Slayers Ressurection
by divine-firefly
Summary: A.U. The Slayers Gang are reborn into Valgaav's perfect world, and are given their memories back. Chaos ensues. Part II Chapter Seven is up! Read and review! PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter One

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Chapter One  
  
A.N. I revised it!! Good bye, long icky paragraphs. I'm also putting up tags so you can tell whose point of view it is. Okay? Okay. Enjoy.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
"So, how'd you like our new students?" Zel Grey, formally Eric Zelgaddis Grey, asked the slight red-head who had been walking behind him in, before the moment he had spoken, and stopped, companionable silence. For a long time, Mel, Melina Rivers, stared ahead and beyond him, her rich brown eyes, glinting red in the sunset, un-answering. She took so long to respond at all that Zel thought for a moment that she had not heard him, and was about to ask her again when she spoke.  
  
"The one from England was really strange. His eyes were, well I probably didn't see them right or something. . " Now Zel frowned down at her. If there were something that Mel never admitted to, it was seeing, hearing, or doing anything wrong. He had never heard her use the phrase 'didn't see them right' in the same sentence as 'I' before in their acquaintance, and they'd known each other a long, long time. But he didn't say anything. Long ago, he'd found the best policy with Mel was to keep your mouth shut, and he'd learned that the hard way.  
  
"But, they were purple" she continued speaking "and they really put me on edge. Something about him made me act strange. I know it's weird, but he made me feel nervous. But it's probably nothing. ." her voice trailed off, and she stared ahead blankly.  
  
Zel pondered what she had said. There was always the possibility, a faint possibility, but still, that she hadn't seen what she'd thought she'd seen. Maybe it was the light that made the boys eyes glint purple, like light sometimes turned Mel's eyes red. But he doubted it. Mel wasn't the kind of person not to notice details. Mel Rivers always noticed things that other people didn't. Her vision, 20-15, combined with her ever constant alertness, made little things, like the way a leaf fell, or the way a coin spun in the air before it landed, or things about people faces, like pimples, deformities, sores, or the color of people's eyes. So if Mel told him that the English guys eyes had been blue streaked with lightning bolts, he would have believed her.  
  
In fact, blue streaked with lightning bolts was something he could have dealt with better. That sounded like the kind of thing that a guy would do with contacts or something. But purple . . that just wasn't something that guys that had normal sexual orientations did. Of course, there was the option that the guy was gay. But somehow he doubted that was the explanation. He remembered the guy from England, the one who'd introduced himself as Xellos Metalium, and he had not been gay. Zel, who had, by some twist of fate, been around more than his fair share of homosexuals, knew the little signs that they gave off. Something in their air was just different, and he'd gotten good at recognizing. There were exceptions to every rule, of course, and Xellos could be one of them, but Zel was more confident in his own abilities. And instinct told him that this guy was straight.  
  
For one thing, if he had been gay, he was trying very hard not to show it. And so, why do something as odd as to dye your eyes purple, if you weren't also going to deck yourself out with rainbows? If you didn't want everyone in the world to know you were gay, then why do something as obvious as to wear purple contact lenses? No, the guy would be too much of a paradox if he were gay. It didn't make any sense, and Zel, being the logical person he was, did not quickly believe hypothesis that didn't make sense.  
  
So, he had ruled out the possibility of contacts, or any other artificial means. Xellos's eyes must have been natural.  
  
This made Zel share some of Mel's uneasiness. Purple eyes were so rare, he'd never even heard of another case of them, anywhere. He'd never heard them referenced. Xellos was undoubtedly a one in a million. Or, to be more correct, one in six billion. Which made Zelgaddis very, very edgy.  
  
He managed, however, to forget his discomfort by the time he got home, up the stairs, and into his bedroom, where he pulled out his guitar and started to lightly strum, trying to think of something to play. As if guided on their own, his fingers found the frets and he began to play. Something about his tune haunted him, made his hair stand on end, but that was the kind of music he enjoyed to be a part of. Gradually, Zel forgot everything, and became lost in the rhythm of his music.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers  
  
The strangeness of the boys eyes did not leave Mel. After she and Zel had gotten home, seeing that her parents were out, she had run out to Starbucks to get a coffee and some sort of sweet. And the whole way there, and while she was ordering her coffee, the strange purple eyes of Xellos Metalium plagued her. Finally, holding a cool cup of iced mocha and a bagel, sitting in a large, puffy armchair, she allowed herself to consider them. They were, she had decided earlier on, completely natural. And she knew that, unlike she had let Zelgaddis believe, she had seen them perfectly clearly. She had, in fact, gotten a good look, because while she was exiting the classroom where they'd been introduced to the exchange students, Xellos had bumped into her. Rather hard, making all her books spill out of her arms, onto the floor. In anger, wincing at the pain in her knees and wrists, she had started to shout at him about good manners when dealing with innocent girls, when she had looked up. That was when she confirmed what she had given to strange light in the classroom. He was smiling at her, licking his lips, and his eyes, his amethyst eyes, were open.  
  
Before she could get her breath back and continue her tirade, he had turned and walked away, his cape billowing out behind him. No, Mel frowned, that wasn't right. He hadn't been wearing a cape to billow. So why did she think of him as wearing one? Sipping her coffee, she analyzed her image of him. He was wearing a black cape rimmed with a sort of red design, and caring a staff. The rest of his clothes were non-descript, tan pants and a white shirt, boots, she didn't pay much attention to them. He was, in her mind, wearing the same dumb smile he had given the rest of the class, his eyes closed, their purple depths hidden.  
  
Mel shook her head, opened her eyes, and returned to the world of coffee and poetry freaks. Taking another deep sip of her mocha, she though about her imaging. She had only seen him once, and hadn't noticed really noticed his clothes, though now that she thought about it she was almost sure that he had been wearing jeans and a black, long sleeved shirt. The image in her mind was probably a fluke, she had probably seen someone else, with that odd helmet hairstyle, who had died their hair purple and was dressed that way. On Halloween or something. Yes, she reassured herself, that's probably it. You're subconscious mind is filling in the blanks for you, and the result pops up in your head. That's all it is. That's all.  
  
But for some reason, she didn't think that was all.  
  
Mel slept badly that night. The nightmare she'd been having for the past few weeks was plaguing her, but now was worse than it had ever been before. She woke up, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, and sitting up in bed. Trembling, she forced herself to lie back down. Just a dream, she thought. It's just a dream. Her breathing relaxed. She undid the knots in her system, lay back and stared at her ceiling, barely visible above her head. Slowly, she started to slip back into her dreams.  
  
She was loosing, loosing a desperate battle to keep it in control. She needed to be in control, needed to stay in control, needed to win, but she was loosing. It was tugging her mind into a place within itself, tugging it away from reality. People were screaming at her, not her name, but what they were saying felt like her name. Her own fear was almost tangible in the air around her, her own gasping breath sounded in her ears. She was terrified, terrified of what would happen if she lost control, and in her fear she was loosing her grasp on reality.  
  
People's faces flashed before her eyes. Blue skin, gray eyes; a man who looked like some deformed demon, yet she felt friendship for him. Shinny black hair, framed a girl's face, her eyes were alive with excitement, and she felt motherly toward her. A tall man with long blonde hair, smiling, his blue eyes alight, and she felt trust for him, trust so extreme she'd give him her life. Purple hair, helmet style, a staff and a glowing red jewel, and amethyst eyes . . . .  
  
She screamed, finding herself up in bed again. Sweat, from both her nightmares, made her hair stick to her neck. Fear made the blood sound in her ears. She lay back down, forgetting what it was that had scared her so. She tried to relax, tried to fall back into the pattern of sleep, but it wouldn't come. She was still too scared. Sighing, she threw her covers off and climbed out of bed, hissing as her feet came too quickly into contact with the cold wood floor. Sighing, she pulled on her black robe and moved toward her computer.  
  
Moving her mouse, she realized she'd left it on, and online too. Sighing at her folly, she brought up Internet Explorer, and typed in the address for Google.com, and started a search for 'Purple Eyes'. She flipped through the multiple sites that came up, addressing everything from the 'Purple Eyes' clothing brand to the medical miracle, purple eyes. Finally, a description caught her attention. She brought up the website.  
  
A text appeared on her screen:  
  
'The so called miracle, purple eyes, have been rumored to be connected with a strange mental disorder in all those whose genes contain it. The disorder is not common, and has not been documented, so there is no official name for it, but it seems to center around a sadistic desire for pain, either of oneself or of others. This fits nicely with the legends concerning this odd trait, about monsters that feed of the negative emotional energy of others. This legend, is, of course, perfect rubbish, but further examination on the effects purple eyes on a persons personality is suggested.  
  
Red eyes, as opposed to purple, tend to make emotions stronger, and fluxuate more. There are a multitude of legends surrounding this particular eye color  
  
Mel lost interest. She'd found out what she wanted to know.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
At school the next day, Zel made his way over to Mel to find her dead looking from lack of sleep. "Coffee" she groaned, "Must, Have. Coffee."  
  
"Ah, Mel?" Zel said, quietly, aware of her strained emotional state.  
  
She looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Do you have my Coffee?" she asked, hope, love for creation, and general happiness reappearing in her voice.  
  
"Ah, about that . ."  
  
"Do you have it? Huh?" Zel backed away. Mel was starting to look dangerous now.  
  
"Mel, calm down, I do not have your coffee" he said, trying to retain a sound of reasonable-ness in his voice while hoping that she didn't kill him somehow.  
  
"You don't have my coffee" she said, sadly, her arms dropping from his shirt to her sides. "No coffee, no coffee, I'm going to die . . die . .die . ."  
  
Zel sighed. She'd obviously not gotten enough sleep last night. Probably suffering from nightmares again. Only on nights of two hours or less did she beg him coffee. He wondered what nightmares could be bad enough so that Mel Rivers would be kept up all night. She feared little, and admitted to fearing less. There wasn't any stress in her life right now, except for the pending visit of her older sister, whom she hated, that would affect her dreams.  
  
The sound of the bell that began the day broke into his thoughts. He forcibly grabbed Mel and dragged her into their homeroom, both Tardy.  
  
Fiona Elizabeth Drygoon  
  
Perfectly formed blue eyes stared up at her, an innocent smile graced perfect lips, blonde hair cascaded around her in perfect waves, and the hand that held the perfect tea-cup was, for lack of a better word, perfect.  
  
Fiona Drygoon smiled down at the painting. "Now, what shall I call this?" she murmured to herself, her smile mirroring the one in her painting of herself, lost in thoughts about how well the brush strokes conveyed the image she wanted, perfection.  
  
Frowning, she looked up as a shadow fell across her life size self portrait. A strange looking boy with purple hair and eyes looked down at her. "I think" he said, his voice making shivers run down her spine, her good mood immediately dissipating "that you should call it, Self Portrait of a Goddess."  
  
Trying to shake off the almost blinding rage he stirred in her, she smiled up at him, her smile feeling tight and stretched. "Thanks a lot" she said, her voice sounding odd to her own ears "that's a perfect name for this piece, it totally goes with the theme I'm trying to convey."  
  
He smiled, a ploy at modesty. "Oh, don't worry. It was nothing." She stifled a glare at his pompous attitude. "You are a cheerleader, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes, indeed I am."  
  
"Indeed?" he raised his eyebrows up at her, and she almost lost control and smacked him. "Cheerleaders bug the shit out of me."  
  
The comment was so unexpected that she nearly fell out of her seat. "Wh- What did you say?"  
  
"Oh." He said, cruelty and sarcasm dripping from his voice, "Yes. I forgot how tiny your mind was, Fillia Ul Copt. I forgot how simple concepts such as hate bother it so much." His expression changed from malicious to studious. "Let me see how to put this plainly. Ahh, yes." He smiled, a cold, cruel smile, and his eyes, which had been closed up until now opened, detachment glinting from their depths. "I. Hate. People. Like. You."  
  
And with that, Xellos Metalium spun around, leaving a very stunned Fiona behind him.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
"Did you HEAR?"  
  
Zelgaddis looked up at Mel over the rim of his coffee cup. She was flustered, her hair was windblown and in her face, the ponytail she'd tried to use to restrain it was long gone. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright, her nose was red from a long walk in the chill wind that had been blowing continuously since the beginning of autumn. He frowned, as much at her distinct lack of coat, mittens, scarf, or any other type of winter gear as at what she had said. "Hear what?"  
  
Mel jumped up and down in frustration. "Zel! Hear! The rumor!" her last word and jump seemed to shake the house.  
  
Zelgaddis's grandfather, Ralph, moved his head inside the door. He was blind, but had an uncanny way of knowing what was going on without having to see it. The man was frowning, his eyebrows pulled together. As he scanned the room, as if looking for someone, he said, his voice a gentle murmur, "Excuse me, Zel?"  
  
"Yes?" Zel put his coffee cup down, and stood up. He had developed a habit making some noise whenever his grandfather was in a room, so that Ralph, or Rezo as his family members called him, could 'see' where he was.  
  
Sure enough, Rezo's faced Zel for his next comment. "What's going on?"  
  
"Mel's here, and she was jumping up and down about something she heard at school."  
  
Mel, guiltily said "Hi, Dr. Gray." She often forgot his blindness, and so didn't always greet him when she entered a room.  
  
Rezo spun to face Mel, smiled, and said "Well, hello, Melina." Zel watched as his friend smiled back, an unguarded expression he didn't see often, but that was the way of his grandfather, always putting people at ease. "What brings you here?"  
  
"Oh" Mel blushed "I just wanted to tell Zelgaddis a rumor from school. Sorry I interrupted you with your-" she let her sentence trail off, waiting for him to complete it.  
  
"Writing my Sermon. But now that I have been interrupted" Mel blushed again, "I think I'd much rather hear this rumor of yours. Tea?"  
  
"Oh, yes, please."  
  
Rezo moved to the stove, where he put a large teakettle on. "Zel, I assume you have coffe?"  
  
"Yes." Zel sat down again, crossing one leg over the other and languidly taking a sip.  
  
"About the rumor" the excitement had returned to Mels eyes, "Zel, you won't believe this." Without even waiting for his response, she barreled on. "That new kid, Xellos Metallium or whatever, snubbed Fiona Drygoon!"  
  
"What? How?" This was amazing. Fiona Drygoon was by far the most popular person in school, and the most successful. She was the best cheerleader, debate team member, choral soloist, and had a very high GPA, which she wasn't ashamed to flaunt. Her parents had insisted on raising her very properly, and Zel had always reasoned this was part of her attraction for other people. Though he had never had a taste for her company, possibly because he had not been one of her more favorite acquaintances, Mel had been one of her best friends in elementary school, but had been pushed aside when boys, makeup, and dances had become more appealing then playing that they were mages. No one, in the history of New York Central high school had ever, ever snubbed anyone, anyone as popular as Fiona Drygoon and gotten away with it. If this Xellos wasn't dead yet, then he had already set a record.  
  
"He came up to her in art, made fun of her painting, and then said 'I hate people like you'!!! Zel, do you realize that this is like the first time ever that this has happened!?! I'm so happy!"  
  
The two figures at the table were both so caught up in their discussion of how Fiona had it coming to her that they didn't notice how Rezo gasped and clutched his chest when Xellos's name was mentioned, or the slightly odd tilt to his gait as he gave them tea.  
  
A.N. YAY! That was fun to write. . . I had a really good time . . . Okay, I gota few notes for everyone: First, this is taking place in a A.U. where Valgaav got his wish and 'purified' the world. Second, forgive my insanity, but I'm a big X/L OR L/G fan, but I realize that some people are not, so I am going to try not to put too much romance into this, however, I will probably write little other fics where I use my favorite two pairings! ^_^ Third, please review, I love reviews, I need reviews, I live for reviews, but is there anyone in this wretched world who doesn't MUAHAHAHAHA Um . . besides that . . there isn't much I can say . but anyway, R&R and remember, peace is luv. 


	2. Chapter Two

1 Slayers Ressuerection  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Melina Caliie Rivers  
  
The hustle and bustle of the lunchroom could be quite overwhelming. Noise was as much a constant as air or time, and even when the teachers were speaking, nothing was ever completely quiet. There was always one mouth moving, one person talking. There was always a constant clatter of trays hitting tables or being scraped across them. There was always trash being dumped, water running as the trays were washed, the cash register ringing as it registered peoples orders, kids grumbling as the dug deep into their pockets for lunch money. Noise was everywhere, and it was often, as Mel often remarked, too much. She was finding it hard to think rationally, and pressure was starting to build up behind her eyes. The day had not been good.  
  
First, there had been the homework she had forgotten to do for her Mathmatics class that Zel had forced her to sign up for because he loved it so much. So while everone else read these long essays that their teacher had forced them to write about curves (some of the essays were quite perverted), and the rest of the class took notes, she doodled in her notebook. Why did it really matter? Zel was beside her, taking this stuff down like it was manna from heaven, and he'd lend it to her for their tests. And anyway, in what probably career would she even use theories like non-Euclidian Geometry? She was only in this class because of her best friend, who was in here because he was one of the sick, demented people commonly referred to as Mathematically Skilled.  
  
After a boring hour of the teacher asking questions like 'what would it be like if we lived in a world where everything was curved?', and the long, boring discussions that invariably ensued, Mel was free, if you could call it that. Her only freedom, really, was to back fist Zel for continuing the last discussion in class, which Mel had totally zoned out for. After that, he had gone on to his Applicable Philosophy class, Mel had to run across the building to a course she was taking about old legends. And she was tardy.  
  
As if that hadn't been bad enough, they were going to start a project that included partners, of all things! She had thought she had escaped that particular horror in middle school. This teacher was a retired middle school latin teacher, so she wasn't really surprised. But to her extreme displeasure, she was paired up with the new kid, Xelloss Metalium. It wasn't that she didn't respect him for what he had said to Fiona, but his eyes and expressions frightened her. The conversation that followed their appointment was actually quite scary.  
  
"Hello, Miss Lina." He had said, smiling and sitting down beside her.  
  
"Hi, Xellos. Still a annoying bastard?"  
  
He looked a little shocked, but only for a moment, and so briefly that Mel hardly noticed that it happened. Then he smiled, his frustration, cold smile, and said "I don't know. Are you still as powerful as I remember you?"  
  
Mel had frowned. The strangeness of this whole conversation was starting to dawn on her. "How" her eyebrows drew together "do you remember me?"  
  
Xellos raised his eyebrows, then his smile widened. "Sore wa himitsu desu."  
  
"What? What does that even mean?"  
  
He opened his mouth, about to speak, when she interrupted him, acting on some weird impulse she'd never even had before. "Never mind. So what do we want to do for this project?"  
  
He smiled again, and it was starting to get on Mel's nerves, but this time his eyes were open. She found herself staring at them, lost in the different-ness of them. They were like no other eyes she'd ever seen.  
  
"I actually have been researching a Japanese mountain legend for some years now, as a hobby. I would like to go into it in more depth. In fact, I have some papers for you here." He had reached into his backpack and pulled out a thick stack of papers. After flipping through them, skimming here and there, she decided that these were the most interesting, complex legends she'd ever seen. They concerned a Dark Lord, that was not uncommon, a Dark Lord of Nightmares, master of chaos and creater of all things. At some point, the lord had created the races of the gods and monsters. Each species, that was what she assumed they were, was lead by its own Lord. Xellos's research seemed strongly directed toward the monsters, not that Mel cared. She found them far more interesting than the perfect Gods.  
  
After skimming through all of his stuff, which took quite some time, because he had amassed a lot, she said "This is all well and good, but do you have any real expertiece in this field."  
  
She met his eyes, open and glinting, and they sent shivers down her spine. She had to resist the impulse to push away from the table. But the moment passed, and he returned to his innocent expression.  
  
"Oh, don't worry, Miss Lina" she wondered briefly why he kept calling her that but forgot to forget in the wonder of his eyes, "I'm sure you'll find my expertise quite" he smiled again, and she lost herself in his eyes "satisfying."  
  
The rest of the day had been a blur. Between arriving at school and going to lunch, Mel had talked her way out of no less than three detentions. Having such an innocent face was very helpful sometimes.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
Zel could tell that something was wrong. Something about the way Mel was sitting, the way she picked at her food rather than eat to quickly for the motions to register in his vision, something about the way he hadn't even reacted when he accused her of being the lesbian lover of Fiona Drygoon told him that something was bothering her. He would have talked about it with her, but the noise was too much for conversation of any kind. Or, it had been too much. Zel frowned, as he realized that the entire lunchroom had become deathly quiet. He wondered who was the cause of this, and glanced around. Almost immediately, he noticed the person walking towards their table, slowly and surely, a smile on his face.  
  
It was Xelloss Metalium.  
  
And watching him, as he sat down, the idiotic grin still plastered on, Zel felt something that scared him very, very much. It was hatred.  
  
"Who are you?" he heard himself ask iritably, which added to his fear. This was completely irrational. Zel had never hated anyone before in his life without a logical reason. There was no reason for him to hate, or even dislike this person, but something about him sent Zel wishin for his death. His voice, as he responded with  
  
"Surely, you should know, my dear Chimera", sent shivers of anger or terror or both rippling down Zel's back. He felt the hairs that lined the back of his neck stand to attention, felt goosebumps rippling down his arms.  
  
"No, I don't know. Answer me straight, you damned ma--" he cut himself off mid sentence, unsure of what he would have said, the unsurity making him hate Xelloss more.  
  
Xelloss smiled again. "I am Xelloss Metalium."  
  
"The hell you are." Part of Zel's mind was aware of noise beginning to bubble back into existence around the crowded cafeteria. He didn't care.  
  
"I assure you, Zelgaddis," Zel took a sharp breath when he heard his name being said by such a voice "I am telling the truth." Lina seemed to be coming back to her senses. "Tell us why you're hear, Xelloss."  
  
Zel was amazed at the calmness of her voice. Didn't she realize that this man was dangerous?  
  
"Simply to enjoy your company, Lina-chan."  
  
The pair locked eyes, Xelloss's a cool purple, Mel's looked red again, but neither showed any animosity that Zel could percieve. "Good enough." The tone Mel was using was making him angry at her, too.  
  
Finally, the staring contest ended. "You see," Mel said, turning to Zel "his intentions are perfectly reasonable. Stop looking like you want to tear his throat out."  
  
Zel couldn't take it anymore. "Don't you see? He's EVIL, Mel, he's a-a-a filthy--"  
  
"A filthy what?" Xelloss looked confused. "I seem perfectly human to me."  
  
"That's only the disguise you wear, you bastard!"  
  
"Zel!" Mel's tone was harsh. "May I speak to you for a moment?"  
  
Zel looked up at her sullenly. "What?"  
  
"In private please?", she asked, sending a meaningful look at Xelloss, who pretended not to understand.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm perfectly interested in what you have to say."  
  
Mel smiled, and smacked Xelloss jovially, but hard, on the back. "No, that's okay, you just sit here and eat your lunch and Zel and I will go talk! Toodles!", she said, giving Xellos a cheeky finger wave, and before Zel noticed it, he was being halled to his feet and dragged toward the hallway. He felt the purple gaze upon him until Mel had closed the door, making everything strangely quiet.  
  
Ami Rachel Wilson  
  
Ami Wilson stared longingly after Zellgaddis, her one true love, and Melina, his best friend. "I wish I could go with them . . ", she sighed, her eyes alight.  
  
"You could, you know. Follow them." Shocked, she turned to see the new kid sitting next to her. Confused, she turned to were he had been moments before, across the cafeteria at Melina's and,sigh, Zelgaddis's table.  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"Amelia", he said, like he was her distant cousin, just meeting her after long sparation, "long time no see!"  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"How's your father doing?"  
  
She choked on the mouthful of milk she'd just poured into her mouth. "My father's been dead for years."  
  
Xelloss looked confused. "No, he's fine, ruling Seyruun, the holy city."  
  
"No, he's not. My father's never ruled anything. He was a struggling writer. He died of pneumonia, putting me in an orphan--"  
  
Xelloss cut her off "My dear Amelia, you forget yourself. Your father is alive and well, and as I said, he is the prince of Seyruun. Prince Phillionell, rumored to be by far the most", he winced, "just of any ruler ever proceeding him."  
  
"What are you talking about? My father's name was Frank. My brother's name is Phil, but that's not short for Phillionell. I don't know what your talking about."  
  
Xelloss grinned, looking honestly delighted. "My my", he said, his voice rich with his amusement "the games fate plays are amusing, don't you agree?"  
  
"I don't know what fate has to do with this-" she started to say, but he was already gone.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
Zel glared angrilly at Mel as she glared, just as angrilly, back. He took several deep, steadying breaths, and felt his anger ebb away. It was much harder to be mad at Mel when Xelloss wasn't around. "Why did you let him sit with us?"  
  
"Why not?" Mel had dropped her anger too, she was adopting an unconcerned air which annoyed him.  
  
"Because of what he is."  
  
"Zel" her tone turned serious, cold and serious, "you have no proof. I know" she gave a small shiver, "how he makes you feel, sick and disoriented. I know you hate him, which is suprising, but we can't just refuse to let him sit with us without proof. We aren't the monsters here, are we?" he didn't say anything, but she continued as if he had agreed. "Then let's just put this behind us. If he wants to sit with us, I certainly won't stop him. Neither will I let you. Besides, he might turn out to be useful."  
  
"Fine."  
  
Lunch passed. School ended and let out. Zel didn't notice much though. His thoughts were all inward. Something was nagging at him about the conversation he and Mel had had in the corridor. He knew that there was something, something important, that if he remembered would solve most of his problems. Something about Xelloss, something Mel had said. It nagged at him through his practice with the other six people in his band. It tugged at his brain through dinner, which was mostly silent because Rezo was preoccupied as well. Zel would have worried more if he had noticed Rezo's odd behavior, he'd been acting weird all day, but he was too stuck within his own mind to care.  
  
Finally, while lying in bed, trying to go to sleep, thinking about Xelloss and what could have began Zel's odd dislike of him, the phrase he had been searching for all day hit him. He could hear Mel saying it in his mind as clearly as if she had been standing in the room with him, and he murmured it under his breath.  
  
"We aren't the monsters here, are we?"  
  
Sabrina Grace Kyria  
  
Sabrina Kyria stepped through her front door in a daze. She hung up her coat and scarf with a disconnected smile on her face. The smile remained through her long dance practice, through her homework and the essay she was writing for her Mathematical Theory class, on her theories about infinity, as that was the next unit they were starting. She smiled through cooking dinner, practicing some dance moves across the floor as she hummed to the radio.  
  
When her mother came in, she greeted her as usual, but she was dettached, as she was all through dinner. She didn't even notice when her younger brother commented on her cooking being similar to the dog food he'd once had occasion to taste. She just smiled and patted Phib on the head, instead of using one of the sarcastic comments she usually reserved just for him. She finally 'came to' when her mother patted her on the shoulder.  
  
"Honey, is there something wrong?"  
  
"No, mother" she said without thinking about it, wondering how she could get to be alone, she loved her family, Phib excepted of course, but she needed to think things over.  
  
"You've seemed upset all evening.  
  
"You mean she's been as dumb as a bitch with tranquilizers up her ass all evening" interjected Phib.  
  
Choosing to ignore that oh-so tasteful comment, Sabrina replied "I just have a headache. Could I spend some time up in my room, please?"  
  
"Why, yes, of course, but do you want to talk it over?" Her mother took her hand, looking meaningfully into her eyes.  
  
"Oh, puke. Forgive me while I barf." Phib commented, rudely gettin up from the table and stomping up stairs.  
  
"No, I just want to be alone, thank you."  
  
As soon as all the pleasantries had been made, she rushed upstairs to her room. Holding her stuffed bunny tight against her chest, she reached under her bed to the yearbook, and flipped feverishly to the 'R's.  
  
There it was. Gabriel Riev III. She stared at the picture of the face that meant more to her than words could say. A loose messy scrawl around it said 'You're a really good cook, Samantha, have a really great summer. You're a really good cook' She blinked back tears as she remembered the conversation that she had tried to put out of her mind for the past day.  
  
"Hey, Sabrina!" The voice of her best friend signified that she was in a really good mood.  
  
"Hey, Fibi", she said, turning to face the beautiful blond standing above her, looking perfect in her school uniform, her navy skirt dancing in the breeze of the football field, where Sabrina had been watching the soccer players practice. Funny, part of her thought, the nasty part, the part she hated, the part that Phib brought out when he talked to her, she got all the looks and I got all the brains. Immediately, she regretted thinking it.  
  
But Fiona hadn't heard her heart speak, she new nothing of what Sabrina was plagued by. "Ugh! Must you call me that stupid nickname?"  
  
Sabrina got herself to smile.  
  
"Yes, I must", she felt the words fall from her mouth as easily as they always did, and as diceitfully as they always did. Mentally she chided herself. This was her ugly side. She couldn't help but love Fiona, but who could? Fiona was so, so perfect. Of course, her perfection was the very trait that made Sabrina hate her. She couldn't stand the way that Fiona could have any guy she wanted, in fact, had the most wanted guy in school, always made straight 'A' honor roll, with Sabrina's help, always was voted prom queen, always had money, clothes, organic food, and anything else she wanted, but always found something to complain about. She led a charmed life! She was so happy, so preppy all the time! What did she have to complain about?  
  
No, that wasn't fair. Sabrina knew about the many things that were wrong with Fi's life. Her older brother, for one. He was the most perfect, wonderful person in the world, even more so than Fi. All she could ever do was try to live up to him, but if she did, it wouldn't be anything big, because he had done it first. Yes, Malgasia was a bit hard to live up to, or live with. Sabrina personally disliked him and his annoying, contemptuous silence. But Fi was good at silence herself, not that she ever used it except for people she really hated. Sabrina was brought back to life by Fi's spirited voice. "Anyway, guess what?, no you'll never guess, so I'll tell you. I SAW him today!"  
  
"Wow" Sabrina tried to keep the cold irony from her voice.  
  
"Yea!" apparently Fi hadn't noticed the mockery in her tone.  
  
Feeling guilty, what right had she to slander the only person in school who could stand her, she said "So how was Gaby?"  
  
"Gaby?" Fiona looked affronted and confused.  
  
Confused herself, Sabrina continued, "Yes, Gaby. Your boyfriend since ninth grade. Weren't you talking about him?"  
  
"No, not at all." Fi suddenly smiled, a look of understanding coming across her face. Sabrina felt her knees weaken. Fi couldn't know, she couldn't have figured it out, could she have?  
  
"You thought I was talking about Gaby? No insult intended", she smiled conspiriatorialy, "but he was SO ninth grade. I was talking about Val!"  
  
"Val?" Sabrina had barely enough breath left to gasp the word. Val? As in Valerie Garth? The star of the Wiley Fox soccer, football and basketball teams, well, co star, excelled only by Xander Sword. Val, who was almost as perfect as Fi, almost as perfect as Malgasia? Val, one of Sabrina's best friends? "But", she paused for breath, "that's so wrong!"  
  
Fi sat down beside her, her perfect hair, which was in a ponytail today, bringing a scent of citrus to Sabrina's nose. "I know" Fi said, watching as Gaby scored another goal in the scrimage they were playing, but not seeing it. "I know it's wrong of me. I know I have a boyfriend, who is the nicest, sweetest guy in the whole world. I know I shouldn't complain, but, sometimes I feel that what I say to him just goes in one ear and out the other. He's just so dumb, sometimes!" her voice rose, then broke. She looked down into her lap, blinking back tears. "And, and I know we're the couple of the month, of the year, and everything. I know we've become and item, but" she turned to look at Sabrina, who was startled to see tears running down her face, "he's not happy with me! It's like we can't be happy together! Everytime we get close, either I push him away, or he pushes me away! And I know what you think of fate and everything, but I honestly believe that we aren't meant to be!"  
  
Sabrina met Fi's eyes evenly, forced her voice to be gentle and soft, calming, soothing Fi's emotional turmoil, saying "So why don't you dump him?"  
  
"I knew you'd say that, and I know I should, but, but we've been together so long! I love him, Rina, I really do, but, but not that way, and I would dump him, but, but the truth is I'm scared. I've been scared ever since that piece of garbage talked to me. I've always been so popular, but what if other people hate me, like he does? What if everyone hates me, and if I gave up Gaby, I'd sink down to the lowest level of geek, totally friendless, and not even a smart geek, because that's all you."  
  
Sabrina immediately felt terrrible. What could she say? 'I want you to dump Gaby because I've been in love with him for years?', 'The truth is I hate you, too', or, worse, the thing she knew Phib would say, 'If you did, it would only be what you deserve, you bitch!'. She took a deep breath, trying to quell all the nasty thoughts in her mind, and managed to murmur  
  
"Your wrong, Fibi. You wouldn't become unpopular. Everyone loves you, not just for Gaby, but for you. So forget that evil guy. He's nothing but garbage."  
  
Fi smiled, and let out a little laugh, reaching up to wipe her tears away. "You're right. Just garbage. Raw Garbage." She took a deep, shuddering breath and continued her monologe. "Rina, I have had a crush on Val for the longest time. He's so nice to me, so gentlemanly! And he's smart! I can talk to him without feeling that it goes in one ear and out the other! I want him to love me, I want to be loved by someone who won't push me away", and with that Fiona broke down again.  
  
Sabrina moved in, gently hugging her friend's shoulders, murmuring comforting sayings. When Fi had her breath back, Sabrina pulled away and said "Fi, Valerie is in my dance class. If you want, you can come tomorrow and I'll arrange a meeting."  
  
"Would you?" Fi said, wiping away her tears.  
  
"Yes. After all, that's what friends are for."  
  
That's what friends are for, Sabrina's voice mocked her in her own mind. Quietly, she whispered to her bunny "I just want her to dump Gaby so he will go out with me. I'm so mean! I hate myself!", and finally the tears she had been holding back came, came spilling down her cheeks as she colapsed onto her bed.  
  
A.N.: Yay! Again, I had a fabulous time! Thanks to all of you who reviewed my work! It was really encouraging! (And I think I fixed the format!) Okay, what did everyone think of the take of Sabrina? I personally liked it. Everyone has a nasty side. Please review or flame or whatever more, just as long as it's feedback! Any suggestions would be SO appreciated!  
  
I also put tags to indicate point of view up! Please tell me what you think of the new format! (I'm blanking out right now) Thanks! Bye!  
  
~Divine Firefly  
  
Disclaimer: I forgot all about this last time! Sorry! Okay, I don't own Slayers at all, but the idea and any unique charecter developments ARE mine, so don't take them unless you ask!  
  
Toodles (again) 


	3. Chapter Three

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Disclaimer:  
  
Everyone has heard this before. I don't own slayers, nor, unless some weird twist of fate lands it in my lap, will I at any foreseeable point in the future. Don't sue me. I'm not making money off this story (unless some of you nice readers think I'm nice enough to donate some cash to, because I need it desperately!!)  
  
Authors Note/Apology:  
  
I know I haven't written for a really, really long time. Oh, of course no one has reviewed either but that is no excuse. I wanted to tell you all that I am very sorry. I had serious writers block. Then it was Christmas and I was rushing about doing last minute shopping and then it was New Years Eve . . . well you get the picture. So this morning I was out jogging, (if you could call it that, all I think it really was an example of how out of shape you could get over winter brake), and I had this idea. Hence my continued writing. So, and without further, pointless ado-  
  
More ado: okay, I fixed the formatting. Tell me what you think. Sorry for the short chapter!  
  
Dun da da DUN!!!!  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
Zel looked around the room in disgust, one simple thought running through his brain over and over and over again. Why, oh why, did I let Mel drag me to this thing? He was only dimly aware of the smooth, wooden floor beneath his feet (which, had he been more aware would have reminded him of a gym floor), the mirror behind his back, and the sore spots in his back because he had been sitting in the same position for too long. He was even less aware of the popping sounds in his neck caused by the action of turning his head from side to side. And beneath all these other awareness's, his mind was pulling in the dancers that dominated his vision and processing them and paying attention to them. Despite his constant efforts to ignore them. He wished, for a brief time freeing himself from the repetitive Why, oh why, did I let Mel drag me to this thing? that his mind wouldn't, when he wanted to ignore something, think of only that thing. In this case the dancers. Who were pirouetting gracefully around the room as they smiled their fake, annoying smiles. Well, that is, all except one.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers  
  
Mel glanced at the dancers and nearly had to stuff her fist into her mouth to keep from laughing. It was hard. She was tearing and shaking by the time she managed to look at them again. This time she kept her face blander, biting her lower lip to keep from making a disturbance. The ballet school attendees were in near perfect unison, throwing one arm out then pulling it back in, then the other arm, then all of their right legs came out and their arms came up in a gracefully curl. The teacher, who was giving the recital attendees an idea of what class was like said in her curt voice "And a-one two three four, Hold two three four, Longer two three four, Think two three four-"  
  
That was when Mel noticed the wobble. Just a little shake, really, but it stood out among all the other junior ballerinas who were holding their poses perfectly. She stared at the offending leg that no one else had noticed. It shook again. And again. And again. Mel blinked. These were the perfect preps that were doing this. The cheerleaders. Surely, surely one of THEM wasn't about to fall over. It was unconceivable. No one had ever thought of such a thing.  
  
Which just went to show how stupid people could be. The leg and the body attached to it slipped to the right. Then a little more. Then with a final, passing wobble, the girl tumbled onto the girl next to her. And she hit the girl beside her. And on and on and on down the line, until there were a mess of tangled limbs, growling girls, and one very unhappy Ami Wilson.  
  
Ami Tanya Wilson  
  
Ami couldn't believe it. It just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! She looked up at the ceiling of the dressing room and blinked away tears. She felt a hard spot starting in her throat, heard her breath starting to catch around it, saw her vision of the ceiling start to go fuzzy around the edges. She blinked rapidly against the pinpricks start against the back of her eyes. "I'm not going to cry", she said softly, "I'm not-going-to cry." The last word was broken by a sob.  
  
Ami felt drops of water drawing paths along her cheeks. Sobs racked her body, harder and harder, tears running down her face, until they pooled into droplets that fell of her chin. And then it was all over. She gave a few more, relinquishing sobs, but they were nothing to what they had been a few seconds before. Then she looked around. Dresses were scattered around the room, bags filled with hairbrushes and makeup, bras and underwear were lying in between the vanity tables and on benches. "How the heck did I get myself in here?"  
  
She supposed it had all started with Fiona Drygoon.  
  
Flashback  
  
Ami looked around timidly. She had never been here before. The warm August wind whipped her shoulder-length hair into her eyes. She blinked, then screwed up her face with determination. What would Phil think if she didn't go and try out? She had to do this. It was all she wanted. Biting her inside lower lip, she strode forward. As she neared the other people on the field, they looked at her strangely. She heard whispers of "what is she doing here?" and "isn't that a freshman?" surrounding her like a hostile wind.  
  
And then she walked into Fiona.  
  
"Hello," the taller, slimmer, more attractive girl said, her smile looking rather strained. "Why are you here?"  
  
"I um-well-you see-that is-you know," Ami said hopefully. Why was she being so dumb? Why couldn't she talk? She heard the giggles surrounding her. Malicious giggles.  
  
"No. I don't know."  
  
Best get it over with. "I want to try out for cheerleading!" she said in a rush, the words tripping and stumbling over each other as she rushed to get them out. Then she looked down, hunched her shoulders, and prepared for the most popular girl in school to laugh in her face.  
  
Nothing. Daring to hope, a very little bit, Ami looked up. Fiona was smiling, but not meanly. She looked as if she were really considering Ami's offer.  
  
"Sure." Ami's jaw dropped. So did the rest of the squads. Fiona continued, apparently oblivious to the ridiculousness of what she was saying. "Sure. Why not? You look sorta fit, and definitely peppy enough. You'll have to do some preparing, but you could probably join the squad during the boys basketball season."  
  
"Really?" Ami was incredulous. She had tried to befriend these people before, but they had turned her down. Why was she being accepted now?  
  
"Sure. We have some job for you somewhere. Hey, listen, you can talk to Sabrina. Do you know Sabrina?"  
  
"Yes!" Sabrina Kyria. Fiona's best friend. She had the highest GPA in the school apart from Zel Gray. She was nice, always doing extra community service, working with young children and the elderly. Picking up trash. Cleaning up the parks. Babysitting for large events. A model citizen. Everyone knew Sabrina Kyria.  
  
Sabrina stepped forward. She was about Ami's height, and they looked a lot alike, with their dark hair that both wore long, and slightly rounder, pudgier forms. Even their faces were kinda the same, but for the eyes. Ami's eyes, which she considered her best feature, were big, blue and soulful. Sabrina's were pale green, and seemed to stare right into you. She always seemed to see what you hated most about yourself as soon as you met, which made most people very uncomfortable around her. Ami smiled cheerfully at her. There was nothing to object to. (Especially since she went to church.)  
  
End Flashback  
  
And that was how it had begun. The dancing lessons. The shopping. The training until she was so tired that she almost missed Sunday Mass. The diet.  
  
Ami heard her stomach give a soft grumble. Oooooh the diet, she thought. The six hundred calories a day diet, with no breads, no dairy, and no sweets. As Ami was already a vegetarian, there wasn't all that much she could eat. Fruits. Veggies. And then more and more and more. She was so sick of fruits and veggies. But she belonged. She was on the cheerleader squad. They certainly didn't love her, weren't necessarily her friends, but it was a start.  
  
So she stopped crying. And stood up. And got dressed for the formal reception that followed the recital. She belonged. There was no reason to cry.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers  
  
Mel stared up at her father in disgust. How dare he do this to her!! She wasn't three years old!! (Well, at least not anymore . . ) And she was hungry!! If he didn't move out of her way soon, she was going to tackle him.  
  
"Melina" he was saying, "Do you have any idea how rude that was? And at your sisters recital, no less!! She just got back, and you're ruining it for her!! How dare you!!" Mel stared blankly at the ceiling above his head. He had no proof. Let him try to pin it on her! "Sniggering like that when those girls fell down! And laughing out loud when that Boy tackled Sabrina during her solo! The Kyria's are our friends, Melina!"  
  
Mel heard the pause in his tirade that indicated he wanted her to say something. Her face shifted subtly from one of defiance to innocence. "Daddy" she said, honey nearly dripping off every word "that wasn't me!" actually, she had encouraged the boy to do it, and would have paid him except he refused her money, "I know their our friends, Daddy! I wouldn't do that to them! And I didn't laugh!" She looked up at him hopefully. He didn't look convinced. She needed something to eat, damn it! Anything! Before he could open his mouth and oppose her more, she quickly said, "I'm really, really sorry Dad! I love you! Laters!"  
  
And, with a quick shove, she ran to join up with Zel at the snack table, nearly tripping over the blue evening gown that Luma, her older sister, had insisted that she wear.  
  
Zel was looking in need of help. Lots of help. Xellos was standing in front of him, and Zel looked prepared to throw the orange in his hand at him. She came running up in time to hear the phrase "Rock boy" before Xellos looked up at her. (Well, you can't really say looked as his eyes appeared to be closed, but at least he moved his face in her general direction.) "Well, hello, Miss Melina!" he said happily, as if she were a long lost best friend.  
  
Mel fought the disgust that welled up in her when he said her name. "Hello, Xellos!" she called cheerfully, reaching over to slap him on the arm. "Whatcha talking to my buddy Zel about? Hmmm?"  
  
"We were just commenting on Zelgaddis's particular metabolism. How he manages to stay 'Rock Hard' without doing any exercise at all! In fact, he's quite lazy!"  
  
Mel didn't' buy it. "Come on, Xellos!" she said, pitching her voice to an annoying whine "tell me what you were really talking about!"  
  
The speed at which he moved amazed her. With barely a second to spare, he was in her face, waggling a finger, and saying "Sore Wa Himitsu Desu!"  
  
It took all Mel's control not to blow up in his face. And then he was dragging her to a table, pulling a chair out for her, and forcing her down. She almost didn't notice that Zel was lost in the confusion.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
Zel moved off to be alone. The comments that Xellos had made about his body had really rubbed him the wrong way. And he couldn't understand it. Xelloss was really starting to scare him. He avoided him at school, avoided him on the weekend, but he always seemed to bump into the older, more annoying guy. And their conversations always centered around his body, around how he was so rock hard, so stoney. Xelllos had once said that he almost saw pebbles protruding from his skin. And for some reason, such petty teasing had really bothered Zelgaddis. And now, he ran, as he always did, to the Men's Restroom. Just to check.  
  
He was panting slightly as he threw open the door, and moved into one of the stalls, this recital hall was BIG. And then he started his systematic check. He took two fingers, and placed them on his face in several particular places, he didn't know how he chose them but they seemed right. He felt for smooth peebles, for pimples, anything. His face was clear. Then came the part of the check that he really didn't want other men seeing. Which was why he chose a stall.  
  
He slowly peeled off his shirt and checked. All clear. All clean. No stone. He put his shirt back on, his formal, long-sleeved, button up shirt, which was really uncomfortable. He took of his pants, kaki, also really uncomfortable. Checked. None on his legs. He checked and checked again. And, until he was sure he was all clear, he didn't come out of the stall. This check was part of the reason that he avoided Xellos. He found that he couldn't help but check if the-the damn monster said anything about stone. It was an immediate reaction that he couldn't help. He would run to a bathroom before he realized it, and do his check as quickly as possible. If he did manage to suppress checking, he found himself becoming more and more anxious. His breathing would increase. He would sweat profusely. If it happened to be around a meal time, he wouldn't be hungry. Or he would be, but couldn't eat. So, eventually, he gave up, and just went through his check, without knowing why, or how, he did.  
  
Luma Serena Rivers  
  
Luma stared at her sister, who was sitting with a strange looking boy, who looked older than Mel, and had, Luma grimaced, purple hair. And, was it just her, or was that hairstyle so last year? And purple? As if! It was just the kind of thing that Mel would find attractive in a guy. . . her sister was such a weirdo. No fashion sense. No hair sense. No makeup sense. No nothing. And yet, she always seemed to attract people. Even with her bad hair, worse temper, and odd mood changes, she was like honey. And the others around her were like bees. There was just something about Melina. . . something that bothered Luma quite a bit.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers  
  
Mel stared at Xelloss. What was with this guy? He bothered her. She felt something when he was around her, an atmosphere of fear, pain, and anger. Even though he was always happy. Even though he was always nice. Even through everything. And so, sitting with him, eating dinner, and talking about their project on the Gods and Monsters of the Japanese Mountain culture, she felt just a little bit uneasy. Just a little bit off balance. She didn't know what would happen next. And it rubbed her the wrong way.  
  
"Miss Melina" he was saying, "which of the Monsters fascinates you the most?" She looked up at him, surprised by the question. "Which, of the Dark Lords, their Lords, or the lower monsters?"  
  
He smiled. "All. Pick your favorites."  
  
She grinned. She liked this question. "Shabranigdo. Phibirizzo or Gaav. Xelloss." Xelloss, she thought, the one he was named after. The trickster priest. The private puppet of Xelas Metalium. Gaav, the demon dragon king. Who fought the Water Dragon King. Phibirizzo. The Hellmaster. The fear of all living things. Satan. Shabrinigdo. The Dark Lord. Ruby Eyes. Yes, Xellos, Xellos the second, these are my choices.  
  
Xelloss smiled a cold smile. "Why them?"  
  
"Because" she said, quickly, "I feel as if I know them."  
  
Xelloss smiled again. His eyes opened, and their amethyst depths enveloped her. She felt warm and secure within them. And then she realized he was speaking, and turned her full attention on his words. "-Allow me to let you in on my little secret." 


	4. Chapter Four

Slayers Resurrection  
  
A.N.: Last chapter was so much fun!! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!! Okay, please tell other people about this fic! I want it to spread around . . its my baby! Thanks a lot if you would! Okay, bye!!  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Valerie Michael Garth  
  
The lights were sparkling, as lights tend to do, especially in winter, and most especially when the person looking at the lights is standing outside the building in which the lights are doing their sparkling. Val looked in on them, watching their peculiar patterns in the glass window, like so many stars glimmering in the sky. He saw his breath fog the window and the light catch in it. Shivering, he turned away from the window, to face the younger man standing next to him. "You're her brother?"  
  
The child, Phib, Val thought his name was, nodded. Then, as if he wanted to make the clarification complete, said "Yes."  
  
Val frowned. "The brother that she hates?"  
  
Phib twisted his innocent, young face into a look of pain. His eyes, large and blue, so unlike his sisters, yet still as soulful and gorgeous in their own way, filled with remorse. "Does she really hate me?", he whispered, and though it was a question, there was no hope of positive outcome in his voice.  
  
Val was surprised at the sudden change in the boy. Mere seconds before, he had been talking about his sister as if they hated each other. He had never shown any particular regret for anything that had happened between them. But now . . could it be possible? Could Phib Kyria really love his sister? Could this boy, who had tackled her in the middle of her recital, really love her? The way Val loved her?  
  
Turning to face the window, again, his face hidden from Val, Phib continued, his voice full of suppressed emotion. Val even thought, from his tone, that he might be crying. "We" and his voice broke "we have never gotten on very well-she-I-We are both so different. She with her dance and I with my, well, she must have mentioned it . ."  
  
She had. Phib's habits had been very unnatural since his first years in middle school, and she had shown concern about them even then. Now, in eight grade, he was unnatural. Brilliant and young, he thrived on cruelty. His old stuffed animals were now mutilated, their eyes poked out, their arms and legs detached. His room was hung with pictures of dark bands playing gothic music against darker backgrounds. He kept a vase full of dead roses by his bed. His arms and ankles were covered with scars, all, she suspected, were self-inflicted. And yet he still possessed a certain innocence, a certain charm that drew people to him like a light drew moths.  
  
Phib was still speaking, and with a jolt Val brought himself back to the young boy's words. "I've always wanted to know her better . . always . . she's so good . . so much better than me."  
  
He was looking down now, defeated, small. Val could barely resist the urge to throw his arms around the child, to comfort him, to protect him. Locking his arms behind his back, Val said nothing. There was nothing to say.  
  
"And as long as you promise not to hurt her, I'll arrange a meeting. I'll get her into one of your classes. Whatever. As long as you think that you can keep up your end of the deal, it should work fine."  
  
"I won't hurt her". No. He could never hurt her.  
  
"Good. You owe me one." There was a finality in the boy's voice. Val turned to leave, expecting to spend the next few hours in her company, a few, sparkling, happy hours. Too few.  
  
And behind him, the boy smiled. Not the enthusiastic smile of a child he usually presented to the world, but a cool, calculating one. His target was being drawn in.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers  
  
"Allow me to let you in on my little secret-"  
  
Mel looked up at Xellos in surprise. She had not expected this. And then he was beside her, pulling her to her feet, hodling her hand lightly all the way to the dance floor. Then he wrapped his arms, his long, masculine arms around her. Lina felt herself blush. He smiled, and she stared up into his eyes, caught and manipulated by their odd beauty.  
  
"My secret" he started to say, then stopped, as they were both pulled into the slow rhythm of the dance. Then, lowering his mouth till it was beside her ear, he murmured "My secret is simple. You are not who you think you are. Or, at least, not really."  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
Zel stared. From where he was standing, in the doorway to the mens bathroom, he could see his best friend in the entire world dancing with that-that monster! He quickly started to walk towards them, when he was intercepted by Sabrina Kyria's younger brother Phib.  
  
"Hello, Zel. Just back from checking for stones, I see. Worried, are you?"  
  
Zel gaped at the young boy. How could he know? "What-How-Who," he stuttered, words jumbling in his mouth as he tried to say them.  
  
"I didn't know. It was just a wild guess! So I was right, hmm? Well, whadya know? Call it fate!" The boy smiled, and spun and walked away. Giving Zel a clear view of the dance floor.  
  
He saw Xellos bend down and murmur something in Mel's ear. He saw Mel's jaw slacken, saw her grow pale, then reddened, with anger. She pushed away from Xellos, and Zel was standing close enough to hear his last words to her: "Lina! You can't hide from what you are!"  
  
She shook her head slowly, looking at him in horror, as if he were crazy. "You LIAR! You big, fat LIAR!!"  
  
The scene was beginning to attract attention. Zel saw several people turn towards the pair, as they conversation grew in volume. Xellos was speaking again. His eyes had lost their sincerity; in fact, they had lost all expression at all, as he had retreated into his confusing, happy, innocent appearance. "Just look at him, Miss Lina. You will know."  
  
Mel, and why was he calling her Lina anyway?, spun to face him. Her face went loose with repulsion, as if she saw something in him she would rather not see. She turned again, and this time not to Xellos, and raised her voice again.  
  
Sabrina Grace Kyria  
  
Sabrina looked around. One moment, she had been having a peaceful conversation with Valerie Garth about the advantages and disadvantages of toe dancing, trying to steer the conversation back to Fiona, trying to arrange a meeting between the Fi and her crush, and then, two figures had started shouting at each other in the middle of the dance floor. One she knew, Mel Rivers. The Rivers were a close friends of her family, and Mel had come to her ballet recital, and in turn to this reception for the recital, just because of that friendship. The other, an odd looking kid with purple hair and eyes, was a complete stranger.  
  
The entire room fell silent, as they all noticed the fight. The last words the young man said echoed in the room. "Just look at him, Miss Lina. You will know."  
  
Sabrina stared at her. She watched as Mel turned around, and faced her best friend, Zel Grey, who had come with the Rivers family. She couldn't see her face, but she saw Zel's go pale, saw his hands fly to his forehead, right above his left eyebrow. Then Mel turned around.  
  
"You BASTARD!!" she screamed, running towards Xellos, but side stepping him at the last moment, and continuing. Toward, Sabrina thought with a mixture of surprise and fear, me and Val. "You ruined my Life you BASTARD!!!" Mel's shout echoed in the room as she tackled Val, slamming him to the ground. Sabrina stared in shock as Mel pumled him, throwing punches at every part of him she could reach, until her fingers had his blood on them. Then the guy she had been yelling at appeared behind her, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled up.  
  
"Now, Miss Lina, we can't be having that, can we?"  
  
Mel shrugged him off, pushed away from him, and ran. Ran from the room, from the people, from everything. She was out the door before anyone could say anything. A stunned silence filled the room. The odd purple-head was the first to speak. "Aaah, well" he sighed, then turned and followed Mel out the door. The silence became more stunned than before, if such a thing was possible. Sabrina became aware of her mouth hanging open and closed it quickly. The soft click seemed to resonate through the room. She looked around embarrassedly, but saw that no one was looking at her. As she was looking at Mr. Rivers, who was red in the face and kept pantomiming words silently, but seemed unable to make anything come out.  
  
"Whoa." Sabrina spun. It was Val, still lying on the floor, wiping at his jaw. "Whoa," he said again, and this time the word seemed to shake everyone out of their daze. A general chaos ensued, what with Sabrina's parents trying desperately to calm the Rivers's adults down while keeping an eye on Phib, Sabrina trying to clean up Val, Ami trying to cheer everyone up, while recruiting them to her church, and other people packing up food, putting tables away, and leaving.  
  
It was half an hour after the strange departures that Sabrina thought to look for Zel. She looked and looked, and Val looked with her, but he was no where to be found.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers  
  
Mel baled down the dark street, oblivious to everyone and everything. She blanked her mind, tried not to think about anything, but especially about what Xellos had whispered in her ear. IT. IT wasn't true. Couldn't be true. IT didn't make sense. She realized she was crying, and that didn't make sense either. Everything suddenly seemed to be too much. Her mind couldn't hold it all, couldn't comprehend it all. She couldn't understand what Xellos had told her, and yet it's presence in her mind was filling her with new emotions, new pictures, a new lifetime, or was it an old lifetime? She couldn't tell it all blended together. She felt as if someone had taken every thought she had ever thought, and poured it all into a mixing bowl and turned the mixer on as high as it would go.  
  
Mixer. Her mother had a mixer with seven power levels.  
  
Seven. On her seventh birthday she had gotten eighteen blue bracelets. Blue. The sky was blue. Except now it was black. And dotted with lights.  
  
The lights were called stars.  
  
Stars. She had flown once, in the stars, at night, flown through the air. Like a bird.  
  
Bird. When she had been little, she would tell her mother that the birds were dancing across the sky.  
  
Dancing. Recital. She had been to a dancing recital a long time ago. Some one had told her something, a long time ago.  
  
Or had that been today?  
  
"I'm going crazy," Mel whispered to herself, clenching her teeth. "I'm going crazy!"  
  
Her world rapidly shrunk, shrunk down until all she could see was the sky above her, all she could hear were her footsteps, her ragged breathing, all she could smell was her sweat, all she could feel was the uncomfortable dress she was running in, all she could taste was the sourness in her mouth. Bile. She was going to throw up.  
  
She stopped running.  
  
Gordon Ken  
  
Gordon Ken blinked at the street ahead of him. It was dark, he'd spent the night in his shop, working late, but he could have sworn he had seen something. A flickering ghost. He felt his tired muscles tense. All his alarm bells were going off, ringing madly in his mind. He wasn't normally one to jump at shadows, or to think people were following him, but something about the alley to his right made him feel on edge. But as he stood, his weight on the balls of his feet, his hands spread, ready to make a dash, and nothing happened, he relaxed. Even after he was standing on his full feet, and his hands had slipped from their fight position, he waited at the alley for five minutes. And nothing happened. A faint feeling of discomfort lingering, he continued to walk toward his house.  
  
He smiled as he went over his day in his head. He loved his work. It made making people happy so easy. So simple. And he loved it.  
  
Cooking had always been his passion, ever since he had been very small, when he had been adopted by an old man who wanted to get in touch with the child within him again. The man was rich, richer than anyone Gordon, as old Mr. Ken named him, had ever known, and he employed a household full of servants. And one very old chef. "Gurgie", as everyone called him then, because of his love of food, the old cook had often said "never cook with your hands. Never cook with your book. The books mean nothing. Cook only with your soul."  
  
And he had.  
  
After graduating from a local community college, he had borrowed some money from his 'father' and started his own bakery. He baked sweets and bread, made candies and cookies, and the most wonderful cakes in the district. Today, in fact, he had had to deliver a large order of cakes, breads, and cookies for a ballet recital that was being held in the honor of some Luma Rivers. He had also sold three dozen cookies to this cute little kid at half price, and had made three birthday cakes. He didn't remember, as he handed his customers their bags, the hours of work he had spent making these thing, only the warm smiles of the faces of the children as they left his shop.  
  
A similar smile graced his face, and he started to whistle.  
  
Without warning, a scream split the late November air. It was high pitched and frantic, the kind of scream an animal makes in a last ditch attempt to save its life, even when it knows it's going to die.  
  
Before he realized what he was doing, Gordon had spun around and was running full out toward the alley that he had just passed. It had seemed so close, but was so far, it was taking him so long to get there, and he needed to get there fast. He was so tired from a day of standing, but he pushed himself on, adrenaline pumping through his body, hard and fast.  
  
He rounded the corner and almost fell of his balance. A girl was standing on the far wall, backed up against it. Her slight body was alive with shakes, and even from this distance he could see her eyes darting back and forth, before they saw him. His eyes met hers, and Gordon was struck with a bizarre sort of fear, though he couldn't think why. Two large, dark figures were standing in front of her, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized, with shock and disgust, they were men.  
  
"Come here, little girl", one was saying, his voice so deep in his throat that it almost sounded like a growl. "We won't hurt you.''  
  
"Yeah", the other one chimed in. "We only want to play."  
  
Both chuckled.  
  
Gordon leaped forward, his feet pounding the pavement. Both of the figures turned to look at him, and he realized that one, the one who had spoken first, was holding a gun. Time slowed. He became aware of the leaves twitching in the wind. He was aware of the girl, staring at him like he was mad. He heard the gun click. With a strange detachment, he noted that he wouldn't be able to bake the batch of chocolate chip cookies he had planned to sell at half price tomorrow. Another part of his mind realized that his body was still moving, still hurtling toward the man, and in his surprise he hadn't fired.  
  
Then the moment was over, and they collided.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers  
  
Mel stared at the scene in front of her. A moment before, the tall blond had started a headlong rush down the alley toward the men that had been threatening her. She shuddered as she remembered them helping her up from the side of the road, and with disgust at herself as she remembered how glad she had been to see them, and then their lewd jokes, the way their hands had started to paw at her, the way they'd chased her when she'd ran. Ran here. And then they had threatened her, and one had pulled out a gun. She had screamed when put a bullet in it and aimed it at her head. And then the giant had appeared. Their eyes had met, and something about him had been familiar. But it was all over too soon for her to be sure. And then he had come barreling down the alley, and the one with the gun had cocked it.  
  
She stared as the younger, fitter man hit the two dark strangers with an audible bang. She would have jumped back, but there was nowhere to jump to, so she stood, transfixed. They were really going at it. The man with the gun had been hit full on, and he'd dropped it. The other had come to slug the tall guy, but it didn't work, because the giant turned around and hit him in the jaw. The now unarmed assaulter grabbed the rescuer by his hair, and the other punched him in the stomach. The guy struggled, then suddenly sat down, pulling the one holding him off balance, and because he lost his footing, he loosened his grip, and the giant was able to wrench free. As he stood up, his hand came in contact with a long rod of metal. It was then that Mel noticed the gun.  
  
Gordon Ken  
  
Gordon felt the rod in his hand, and with it felt a focus he'd never had before. The other man was approaching him from behind, he didn't know how he knew, but he did, and spun and brought the make-shift sword into the guys stomach. The color drained form his face. He gasped for air. Driven by something he'd never felt before anywhere, Gab pulled the rod up and hit the guy on the back of the head with it. The man passed out.  
  
He heard a soft footstep that alerted him to the other's presence, but too late. A punch hit him square in the back, and he fell forward, dropping his poll. He turned around on the ground, the guy leered over him, and Gab saw something strangely, scarily familiar in his eyes. A lust for pain.  
  
The man reached for the rod and lifted it high, high into the air, and posed, about to slam it down on Gabs head with all his might, and Gabriel knew, more certainly than he had ever known anything ever before in his life, that he was going to die.  
  
"Put the stick down."  
  
The poll clattered to the pavement. Mel stared, pressing the handgun into the man's back, as his hands came up over his head. "Now" she said, her voice sounding clear and true, not at all the way she felt, "walk away slowly. When you get to the head of the alley, turn right. Keep walking until you get into town. Then you can turn around and go home. If you don't, I'll blow your brains into a million pieces." The man started walking, one foot then the other, his steps echoing hollowly in the empty alley. "That's it, nice and easy." They reached the head of the alley. Mel turned him to the right. "Keep walking."  
  
The guy turned back to look at them once, the pair, one petite redhead pointing a gun at his head and the tall man behind her, his short, brown hair ruffled from the fight, catching the light of a street lamp, who was holding the poll at ready. Then Mel watched as he walked away.  
  
A.N.: YAY!! More of these! These are fun!! Okay, sorry for the long chapter and the aweful fight scene, *Winces*, if you could call it that. Any way, review, respond, and remember, peace is love. Over and out.  
  
~Divine Firefly 


	5. Chapter Five

Slayers Resurrection  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Slayers, never have, never will (But the rest is mine!!), and I'm not making no money! Believe me!.  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Fiona Elizabeth Drygoon  
  
Sunlight flickered softly through the open window. It blurred the sharp edges of the curtains; fell on the red carnations that cheerfully looked at the ceiling from the bedside table. It sparkled and shone through the hair of the blonde girl who was lying asleep on the bed, her breathing gentle, her mouth partly open, her features relaxed into a child-like innocence, much different from when she had arrived in this room, her face pulled by stress and strain. And maybe because of the sunlight, she blinked open her eyes, yawned and looked around.  
  
Panic hit her like a punch to the gut as she realized she didn't know where she was. She looked around quickly, her eyes darting from side to side, until at last they fell upon the boy lying in the bed. His mouth was open, too, but his breathing was ragged, and came in gasps. His blond hair, which he had dyed blue in the beginning of the year was pushed away from his face. His nose was bent unnaturally, and little traces of dried blood still clung to it, like the blood that was all over the hospital gown he wore beneath the covers. Sweat glistened on his forehead and neck, and she could see the effort he was putting into simply staying alive.  
  
Fiona sighed heavily. It wasn't fair that such a beautiful, wonderful young man would be forced into such pain. She felt resentment well up in her again, resentment against Melina Rivers, who had put him in this state, resentment against the doctors for not doing enough quickly enough, resentment against the world in general. But she felt it drain away as soon as it began to make itself known.  
  
It was hard to feel resentment in his presence.  
  
Valerie Michael Garth  
  
Val blinked. Sun was shining in his eyes, and he tried to bring a hand up to shield them, but his hands were so heavy-so heavy. He moaned with the effort it took just to lift them. It sent little tingling feelings of pain all down his arms. Slowly, he became aware of a dull ache all along his body. His lungs hurt, his legs hurt, his shoulders hurt, his face hurt. He tried to sit up to look at his wounds, but even as he tried a gentle hand pushed him down.  
  
"Don't move, you could make it worse."  
  
He remembered that voice. That voice was familiar to him. Swallowing to wet his dry throat, he gasped, "Make what worse?"  
  
A shadow came across the window, and then he could see her clearly. Golden hair was mussed around her face, it looked as if she had pulled it back in a hurry. Dark circles lined her eyes, but they were bright and blue and smiled down at him like the pictures of Santa Clause. She was smiling, along with her eyes, and he was struck at once with what a good-looking lady it was.  
  
"You're hurt."  
  
He could hear real concern in her voice. He blinked again her concern confused him. "So?" His own tone disgusted him. She looked like she had been caring for him, and how did he treat her? But he couldn't take back the words, and so he watched for their effect on her.  
  
She recoiled, as if she had been smacked. Instead of meeting his eyes, hers slid down to the ground, where she stared at her shoes. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize-I'll go." She spun around and headed for the door.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
She turned, and a faint hope shone in her eyes. "Yes?"  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
She smiled, a sad little smile. "Fiona."  
  
And then she was gone.  
  
Melina Callie Rivers/Lina Inverse  
  
"NOOO!" Lina sat up, drenched in sweat, her breath coming fast and hard. Fear turned deep in her gut, fear of something she couldn't name, something she couldn't fathom, and though her dream was over, she still trembled with it. She stared blankly at the wall in front of her, letting her breath slow, letting her tense muscles relax, letting the sweat cool on her face. Only then did she realize that she had never seen the wall before in her life.  
  
A fresh wave of panic threatened to overwhelm her. Quickly, she looked around, taking in the yellow ceiling, degraded, cheap furniture, and the overall sloppiness. Not until her eyes rested on the many-times-used track jacket did she remember. That man. The-man who had saved her. The men who had chased her. The fight. How she had run. And-and why she had been running.  
  
"Damn you, Xellos" Lina whispered, then paused. She did think of herself as 'Lina' now. She closed her eyes and buried them in her hands, then said, softly, "It didn't happen. None of it happened. It's just my imagination. Just my imagination."  
  
The desire to lie there in self delusion was almost overwhelming.  
  
But-no, she couldn't do that. She was Lina Inverse, the greatest sorceress of all time. She was Mel Rivers. She wouldn't do that. So, slowly, she began to go over exactly what Xellos had told her.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
Zel became aware slowly, of his ceiling, his room, the soft whir of his computer, of the weight of his blankets. He sat up gently, stretching, yawning. He was on school break, he thought. Mel would probably want to go see a movie or something today.  
  
No, he thought, a faint sorrow beginning tingle along the edges of his existence, Mel wouldn't want anything. Mel was gone.  
  
With a harsh gasp, he pushed himself back under the covers. No, it wasn't true. Now he'd just wake up for real, and this nightmare would be over. Nothing happened, except the faint turning in his stomach that he always felt when he was very sad. The sadness came from loneliness.  
  
Sighing, he got out of bed, and grabbed a shirt with a picture of his favorite band, Darkest Reflection, on the pack. He was about to pull it over his head, when he noticed a weird rash, which resembled acne, covering his stomach. They usually occurred in pairs, but the pairs were spread out, and covered his entire stomach. Frowning, he stripped, and checked the rest of his body. They were on his arms, his legs, his bottom. He touched one, then another, his fingers finding them all too quickly. Panic started to fill him. He ran to the bathroom he shared with his godfather.  
  
They were there. Just as they had been on his body, there were on his face. Zel leaped back from the mirror, terrified. He knew the places on his skin. He knew them all to well, and the implications scared him more than he could say.  
  
Gorden Ken  
  
Gordon blinked at the sound of soft, padded feet, and he looked up from the pancakes that were sizzling and bubbling on his griddle. His face broke into a smile as he saw the girl standing there, swallowed by his overlarge clothes. They had been big on him, but on her they were absolutely enormous. She looked rather ridiculous, what with her short red hair, childlike brown eyes, and small features, and this huge, knee length fighting-jellyfish tee-shirt. She frowned at him, at his amusement, and the frown looked so out of place on her face that he burst out laughing.  
  
To his surprise, so did she.  
  
He felt the laughter bubbling up within him, bursting from his mouth, heard hers mixing with his, and he laughed harder. It had been a long time since he had had someone to laugh with. But their mutual laughter was cut short by a faint hissing, accompanied by an almost burnt smell. Quickly, Gordon reached down and flipped the pancakes onto plates, and managed to balance the plates, syrup, two glasses of milk, and a dish filled with soft butter to the table. She had beaten him there.  
  
He grinned as he set everything down, then, when he had his mouth free (he had been carrying one of the glasses of milk in it), he said "Hey."  
  
"Good morning." She smiled happily up at him as she spread butter over her pancakes.  
  
He did the same, then poured syrup over his. He wanted to ask her a million questions, and he would, but they all seemed so intrusive. And she wasn't helping any. She was going at his pancakes with quite an appetite, he thought with a mixture of jealousy and amusement, but she wasn't trying to further their conversation. At all.  
  
Finally it got to be too much. He needed to know some things about her, anything was better than nothing. Throwing caution to the winds, as far as manners went, he said, "Just who are you?"  
  
She stared down at her pancakes. Could it be she was a little embarrassed about this? "Don't worry, you can tell me", he said quickly, not wanting her to be ashamed.  
  
Still, she looked at her plate. He was confused. All he wanted was a name! It shouldn't be too hard for her to tell him a name! Finally, she spoke, though she didn't lift her eyes. "My name is Melina Ri-" she started to continue, but then thought better of it, "just Melina. You can call me Me- Lina."  
  
"What? Isn't Melina your name?"  
  
"Call me Lina."  
  
"Lina" Gordon said, rolling the word around in his mouth. "Lina. Lina." He considered for a moment, before deciding. "I like it."  
  
Lina looked up at him, and a grin slowly spread across her face.  
  
Sabrina Grace Kyria  
  
"Val!" The pale, sickly young man lying that was being enveloped, it seemed, by the alarming over-witness of the hospital bed grinned up at her, and Sabrina felt a worry relieve itself from her heart. "Val! It's so good to see you!" In a rush, she was beside him, his hand firmly clutched in hers, and then they were embracing like long lost friends. When they broke apart at last, Sabrina sat back on her heels, and looked up at him.  
  
"How have you been?" they asked each other in unison, then burst out laughing.  
  
When their laughter had subsided, she titled her head to the side, looking at the young man who had been one of her best friends since they started going to the same dance class, three years ago. He had listened to her through the hardest periods of her life, when her grandfather died, when Phib's change from the darling boy he had been to a monster became apparent, when she first realized she was in love with Gab, the day that Fiona had started going out with him. He had held her when she cried, he had been the sympathetic ear she could turn to. Even Fiona, her best friend, didn't know how much Val meant to her. It was odd, watching him here, looking so ill.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, and she realized he must have seen something in her eyes. He knew how to read her after all, after three years. She smiled, almost sadly.  
  
"Nothing. But tell me" her face brightened, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, "how have you been?"  
  
"Fine." He made a face, "the food's terrible, the bed is like a rock, and my pillow is flat, and most of the time they're sticking me with needles, but other than that, sure, I'm fine."  
  
She grinned at him now, and realized just how much she had missed him. Becoming aware of the ache in her knees, she stood up. "So", he said, his eyes still locked on her, "how've you been? How's Phib? How's Gabi?"  
  
"Well", she sighed, "I'm fine. But Phib disappeared again last night, after the ambulance came for you. Mom and Dad were distraught. They couldn't find him anywhere. It took half an hour just to convince them to come home. When we got there, Mom was in tears. Dad started to drink again. But Phib finally showed up around one in the morning. They tried to yell at him, but he just told them that if they didn't shut up he'd leave them forever. He meant it. Oh, Val, what happened to him? He used to be so sweet, so perfect, what happened? I mean, I know you never knew him when he was an angel, but" she smiled at the window, her face lit up with memory, "he was wonderful. When Grandpa was diagnosed with cancer, he helped me, he hugged me, and he convinced me everything would be okay. Then he went to middle school, and I went to High School, and he changed so much. I just don't know what to do about him."  
  
"Hey, Sabrina, it's going to be okay." She turned to see Val, looking at her earnestly, "It's going to be okay. It's just a phase. He'll go back to normal. You'll see. Remember what Mr. Scarlet said?" she shook her head, biting her lower lip to hold back tears. "He said everyone goes through a phase like this. Don't worry" he said, his voice passionate "it'll all be okay."  
  
She ran to him then, threw her arms around him and cried, thinking of the terrifying person that lived in her brothers body. She had never been so frightened of anyone in her entire life. All she wanted was a little reassurance that it would all be okay, and somehow Val's words didn't help her at all.  
  
Minutes later, she wiped her eyes and broke their embrace. "Thanks, Val, thank you so much. I don't know what I'd do without you."  
  
"No problem."  
  
Suddenly, Sabrina remembered why she had come here in the first place. "So, has anyone else come to see you today?"  
  
"Yeah, this weirdo girl that spent the night in my room, I think. She looked a lot like Malgasia Drygoon, you know the goalie on your soccer team. I think she might have been his sister. Do you know her?"  
  
"Yes, she's my best friend in the whole world. Her name's Fiona."  
  
"Oh."  
  
A comfortable silence settled between them. Sabrina was trying to think up a way to continue the conversation about Fiona, and was torn between the desire to help her friend and to keep Val to her self. No! She didn't want to keep him to herself! That was the Phib in her talking! Finally, as the silence was starting to get on her nerves, she started to babble about Fiona.  
  
"Val, you'd really like her, she's really nice, she's a dear! Even though she looks like she might be a real snob on the outside, she's kind, and wonderful, and so well brought up! She drinks tea with her little finger sticking out! And she's totally not a snob, she'll talk to anyone and she's so good to everyone! She helps out in the homeless shelter three days a week! Val, she's really nice, and-and you should meet her!"  
  
He looked up at her and Sabrina felt herself blushing furiously, aware that she had just made a complete fool of herself. "Okay, we can all go see a movie or something when I get out of the hospital." Sabrina sighed. He was so good at salvaging situations that she had bungled. She smiled at him and was about to agree when he continued. "Now, how 'bout lunch?"  
  
A.N. Okay, how do you like the new format? I like it. Um . . tell me if it breaks up the story too much, okay? Um . . this wasn't really a plot mover chapter, sorry, but I wanted to introduce some things. Next chapter, things will happen. Be happy. Peace is love.  
  
~Divine Firefly 


	6. Chapter Six

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Okay, jelly-spleens . . . Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers. . . . and that's okay because I don't want it anyways!! STINKY Slayers! *sticks nose in the air* Okay . . I do want it . . *breaks down sobbing*  
  
What's a jelly spleen anyways?  
  
  
  
Chapter Six  
  
Gabriel Michael Riev III  
  
"Gaby?" Gabriel Riev III looked up to see his girlfriend of two years approaching him, a smile on her face. He grinned. He had missed Fiona. "Gaby! It's so nice to see you" she said, coming over to him and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Going to win the game for us today?"  
  
"Sure" he said, trying to remember which game was it anyway?  
  
"I'm going to be cheerleading."  
  
"OH!" The soccer match against East Side! The match he waited for all year!  
  
She pushed him lightly on the arm, smiling. He wondered why she was in such a good mood. "I cheerlead every time, silly!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?" She looked confused, and blinked up at him. He frowned down at her.  
  
"Why did you call me that?"  
  
"Call you what?"  
  
Gab paused. Something wasn't right. What was it?? What was going on?? "A jellyfish" he said slowly, trying to remember what exactly had been said. For some reason, he was coming up with 'Hey, Jellyfish'. But no, that wasn't right. . .  
  
"I didn't call you that."  
  
He blinked, but the memory was gone. "Fiona?"  
  
"Yes?" She said, snuggling up with a pillow on the other side of the couch. Funny, Gab thought, she usually snuggles with me.  
  
"What were we talking about?" he looked up at the ceiling, his eyebrows drawn together in concentration. "I can remember Jellyfishes, was it the biology test?" He was interrupted by a loud, resounding thump. "What was that? Fiona?"  
  
She had fallen off the couch in distress.  
  
Gordon Ken  
  
Gordon Ken's eyes darted from side to side, seeing the dilapidated wallpaper crumbling off the walls of his living room. His feet were heavy from a tiring day of baking, and his heart was heavy from what he was about to do.  
  
"Lina?" He called; half hoping that she wouldn't answer. If she didn't, he'd never have to tell her. "Lina?"  
  
"Yea, Gordon?" He felt the knowing sensation in his stomach deepen.  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"In the kitchen. I'm trying out your pie recipe." He grinned despite himself. In the two weeks she'd been living with him, though he hadn't found out much about her, one thing Lina had managed to make clear was her total inability when it came to preparing food, and her complete willingness to devour it. And she'd eaten a lot of it.  
  
His smile broadened. He'd loved having her here. It was good for him, he thought, good for him to cook for someone he knew, instead of the random people that came in and out of his bakery. It made his cooking seem . . .righter somehow; baking for someone he was connected with. And he was connected with Lina.  
  
He got up and crossed his living room, leaned against the doorframe so that he could watch the redhead scowl down at the pie dough that just wasn't flattening itself for her properly. His cat, Ginger, was staring, fascinated as the girl handled the rolling pin very sloppily indeed. Curious, the feline placed one paw on the edge of the dough.  
  
"Ginger, what are you doing? I'm trying to make this, you dumb cat!" Lina's hands, covered as they were with flour and dough contacted rudely with the cats side, pushing Ginger to the ground. "Don't you know curiosity killed that cat! Geeze."  
  
Looking up, she saw Gordon, and she grinned. He grinned back, though his heart wasn't in it. "Hey, Jellyfish."  
  
"Jellyfish?" he said, his voice rich with amusement, as he walked over to her and ruffled her hair. "Where did that come from?"  
  
She smiled happily, and started babbling about what had happened in the shop that day. "The woman who comes, with the boy, I think his name is Tim, and I have no idea what her name is, anyway, he said he really liked your chocolate chip cookies. So I gave him a little piece of those fabulous all chocolate ones you made yesterday and he liked them so much, and so did his mom, that they bought all of the three dozen you made!!! Isn't that great?? Now we won't have to put them up for half price. And the paw print sugar cookies Ginger made sold like lightning! It was amazing. Oh, don't think you got away with selling those peanut butter cookies at half price! I heard you and just barely managed to make up for it!!! I keep telling you, Gordon, you Jellyfish, that you can't do that!! You are so in the whole!! I'm working to pull you out and you won't help anything by keeping selling those things so cheap!! We also have another birthday cake to make. And since the holidays are coming up, I thought we'd make some pies, because they'd sell better. What do you think?" She looked up at him, all smiles, all happiness. Gordon felt his heart tear in two.  
  
"When's Christmas?" he asked, managing to get the words out from a tight throat.  
  
Lina was blinked. She blinked again, and again. "Tomorrow, Jellyfish." She said, her eyes starting to crinkle with mirth. Then, in a single silvery sound, she laughed. It hurt him more than she could know to hear that sound. Startled at his own feelings, at his own pain, he backed away. He hadn't realized what this girl had come to mean to him in these two weeks. He hadn't realized it would hurt him so to turn her away.  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
The slight form of the doctor seemed to tower over him as he sat in the old, stuffy chairs that lined the examination room in her office. Zel was strongly reminded of when he was a little child, and Rezo would take him to the doctor's office for routine check ups, and the form of the doctor seemed to fill the entire room. Of course then, he had been a lot smaller, and she had seemed a lot bigger, he was now completely taller than her, but she still commanded a presence that engulfed him when he was forced to look up at her.  
  
"You say you first found these, uhm, pimples when?" Dr. Eris politely raised an eyebrow to accentuate her question, not that she needed it. When she spoke, her annunciation was always completely clear and crisp, like the newscasters on CNN.  
  
"Yesterday." Zel pushed himself farther down into the chair. No matter how kindly she looked at him, Dr. Eris always gave the impression that he was in trouble.  
  
"And you didn't make an appointment with me till today because?"  
  
"Um . . the woman said you were packed."  
  
"My Receptionist" she said, her voice leaning slightly on the word, as if she wanted to make sure he noticed she didn't call her 'woman', "told you we were packed? Did you explain your condition to her?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"And she still wouldn't let you in? Hmmm. I'll have to talk to Hillary about this" she gently tapped her pencil on her clipboard, in, Zel assumed, annoyance. "Okay. Let me check you up."  
  
Half a busy hour full of having bright eyes shoved in his face, x-rays, tests, questions, tests and more tests, Zel found himself in the waiting room again, only this time he was listening as Dr. Eris talking in a 'private' conference with his guardian.  
  
"I don't understand" he heard Rezo's deep baritone lightly dance over the words, his normally moving voice confused.  
  
"Neither do I." The doctor's voice wasn't confused, just concerned. Zel felt a soft pang of fear ripple through his body. What did she have to be concerned about? "His blood pressure has droped significantly, he is far below normal, for any age, let alone his. His skin seems to be going through a transformation, I think that the acne is a product of it, it's getting more oily, thicker, almost, almost rubbery. All his bodily functions are slowing down. If I didn't know better-you'd think me crazy-"  
  
"I you didn't know better what?" his uncle asked, and Zel leaned closer to the door, the magazine he was pretending to read blurring before his eyes.  
  
"Don't laugh," Zel smiled at that, Eris sounded like a school girl with her crush, "but, if I hadn't gone through years of medical schools, if I didn't know it was completely impossible, I'd say he was turning to-to stone."  
  
Melina Callie River/Lina Inverse  
  
Lina couldn't believe it. She gaped up at Gordon in astonishment, felt her mouth hanging open, but made no effort to close it. Pure, unreasonable, shock filled her body, she felt like she was at the ocean, being tossed by the waves of emotion. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps, which she tried to stifle. Gasping was a weakness. She couldn't show weakness to this man.  
  
Funny that, the cynical part of her mind thought, five minutes ago I would have trusted him with anything. Well, almost anything.  
  
The rest of her mind was too caught up in feelings of rage, betrayal, and despair to think.  
  
Dizzy, feeling ill, she stumbled toward the door. Never could she remember feeling like this . . not even close . . she fell into the wall . .  
  
Not even magic will save me now . . the thought reverberated in her head, bouncing off the walls of her mind . . it hurt .. . she clutched her head . . so that the pain would stop . . only my head doesn't hurt . . the hurt is somewhere in my chest . . and it hurts so much I feel like I'm dying . . .is this death . . is this the end of my life?  
  
Somehow, she got to the door. He didn't even follow her. Her hand trembled, like an aspen leaf . . in a wind . . there had been trees . . once . . long ago. . there had been trees . . and she had smiled . . and she had laughed and there had been a man . . She covered her eyes, she couldn't see his face, it kept fading into darkness, a shard of a memory of another life . . .  
  
She shook violently, but the knob turned. The door was open . . it hurt to look out there and realize she'd never come back. It hurt her somewhere within herself . . she almost screamed from the pain . . pain . .pain . . . .  
  
Melina Rivers, broken and beaten fell across the threshold of the Ken house.  
  
And behind her, Gordon's heart broke in two.  
  
Xelloss  
  
It had started to rain. The soft droplets thudded lightly against his skin, like little pin pricks. Xellos frowned. He had never understood why human's found rain so compelling. It was wet, sticky, and made movements slow and heavy. As he had no real physical form, he could just tune it out, basically turn it off. But, as today, when he chose to feel these things, it just confused him. And he did it as a way to better understand. Funny.  
  
He glanced down at the ocean rippling below him. Waves lapped the shore, their crash a distant murmur carried on the wind. Sea gulls soared around him, cawing noisily.  
  
Gulls. Now there was something he could understand. No rubbish about being a good person, nothing about correcting your flaws with gulls. No, with them, it was all survival. Selfish, greedy, lustful, all human's primary traits, yet in the human's they suppressed them, and in the gulls they relished in them. He could easily see why humans hated them. It was hard to see the best things about yourself expressed in other people.  
  
Looking down again, he saw a very small child walking along the seashore. A sadistic smile flashed briefly on his face as he appeared suddenly beside her.  
  
"Oh, hello, where did you come from?" the soft annunciation in her voice was perfect in its childlike simplicity. He managed to contain his glee at the idea of the voice screaming in pain.  
  
"From the lands of the monsters."  
  
"Oh." She digested this information visibly, her angelic features screwed up in concentration. "Does that mean you're a monster?"  
  
Xellos frowned. There was nothing of the normal tinge of fear in the air. Something was not right about this child. She blinked up at him, her red eyes flashing beneath milky white eyelashes.  
  
Red . . how strange . . . . . "Anyways, I'm Alia. What's your name?"  
  
"Xellos", he said, feeling his habitual smile pull at the corners of his mouth. "Alia. That's a pretty name. Where'd you get it?"  
  
"My mother got it. From a book." He mouthed a silent 'oh.' She continued talking. "She said it fit me."  
  
"Really?" she nodded, her violently red curls bouncing around her head. "How odd. What are you doing away from her? On the beach. In the rain." The oddness of the situation was beginning to dawn on him. All thoughts of scaring the child had left his mind. He was engrossed in her story, in what her answer would be.  
  
It never came. Instead, there was a soft thump and a flurry of wetted sand, and Lina Inverse appeared, her now-short hair plastered to her face, her clothes, an oversized tee shirt and rolled up jeans, stuck to her softly, billowing behind her in the slight wind, a look of sublime rage on her face.  
  
A.N. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! SHORT CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!! LONG ABSENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New characters!! Authors hell all over again. Sorry it took me so long to post, I just had MAJOR writers block. And I had gotten Rurorni Kenshin. And I had found the perfect place to find fluffy fanfic. (Sailor Moon, I know that's kinda immature, but it's so much fun . . fluff fluff fluff . . I love fluff.) Oooooo .. fun stuff happened in this chapter. Mel got unhappy again. And now she's pissed. YAY!!!  
  
OK, um . . some stuff you should know. This is the second to last chapter in 'Part One.' When 'Part One' is complete, I will start 'Part Two.' And so on. I know, that was a Stupid thing to say, but I'm giving you some information. Stupid, useless info it may be, but I don't CARE!!!!!!!!  
  
YA. I have nothing else to say. I hoped you liked the chapter. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. Thanks so much to those who have reviewed already, especially I like Angst and Illione. Super Special thanks and tanks to Robin for editing my work!!!  
  
Toodles 4 everyone:  
  
DF 


	7. Chapter Seven

Slayers Resurrection  
  
A.N. Hmm . . the last of part one, except for the epilogue. I hope you like it. I wanted to put this note at the begging of the chapie instead of at the end, because I want all my wonderful readers out there to appreciate my wonderful end!!! Enjoy!!!!  
  
I'm saying good bye to you now. Toodles.  
  
Divine Firefly  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
Zel felt the sand give way beneath his feet, making him lose his balance for a split second. Because it was wet, getting wetter by the minute, it didn't sink as much as it usually, and he didn't slide as much, but it was still disconcerting. He glanced up at the sky, watched as they heavens cried on him, felt as they hit his skin with a soft, plopping noise. Sighing, he hung his head again. The incident at the doctors office had left him jangled. He fought to escape the words that still rang in his ears, echoing, reverberating in his brain. Turning to stone . . stone . . turning to stone . . lower blood pressure . .skin seems to be going through a transformation . . it's thicker . . oilier . . if I didn't know better . . turning to stone . . to stone . . to stone. . .  
  
"Turning to stone." The sand dissolved in his tears. He closed his eyes. This beach was disserted, but he was ashamed of his behavior. An image passed before his eyelids. The depiction that had been haunting his dreams for weeks, since Mel ran away. A man, young, Zel's height, Zel's bodyweight, hidden in the shadows. He stepped forward, and always Zel's dreams ended hear, with an extreme sense of horror.  
  
But not now.  
  
The man continued. Zel felt himself struggle to look away, to open his eyes, to escape this man and what he meant. He couldn't move. It was as if he were rooted to the spot, in his own mind, as if his conscious couldn't repel what his subconscious recognized as the truth.  
  
His arms, swinging lightly by his sides, came first into view. They were blue. Zel's breath quickened, he felt himself start to sweat. Little bumps ran in ridges up his forearms, he could see them through the shirt the man was wearing. He stepped, and a foot, completely covered came into view. A cape swirled around his legs. His face, hooded, with only dark, purple- black hair and intelligent, calculating, eyes above a mask rather like a surgeons. The mask fell away into the blackness of Zel's mind. He could see now, the stones imbedded in the man's skin above his eyebrows, on his cheekbones. He could see the blue tint to the skin. He could see the light reflecting off of it. Dully, as if it was sinking through a thick cloth, a thought came to him.  
  
This man is made of-  
  
But the thought never finished. Zel opened his eyes, and in a moment dashed off in the direction of the voice he had just heard shriek. He knew the voice. It had been Mel's.  
  
"YOU BASTARD!!!!!"  
  
Valerie Michael Garth  
  
"Bye Mom." Val kissed his mother lightly on the cheek. Chewing on her lower lip, she hugged him back, murmuring into his hair. He sighed and lost himself in her contact. This would probably going to be the last he saw of her for a long time. But his mother never gave into emotion much, and definitely never pushed her son close to crying. Her lips stopped moving on his head she pulled away. Before he knew it, his dad swooped in and crushed him in a burly hug.  
  
"Bye, Dad." And at once, his father burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs.  
  
"MY BABY IS LEAVING ME!!!!! WAH!!!!" He hugged Val closer.  
  
"Dad, it's only for six months." Val managed to squeak, though his father was squeezing the breath from his lungs.  
  
"WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT YOU?????" The big man buried his head in Val's shoulder, loosing his ability to stand on his own.  
  
Not a good thing.  
  
Val almost toppled, his father was over twice his weight, and no amount of soccer, football, basketball, and wrestling training, could help Val support him. His mother rushed in to help, but the both staggered beneath the giant they were supporting. "Honey! Control yourself! People are beginning to stare!" his mother's voice, crisp, though laced with embarrassment, seemed to begin to cut through his Dad's mood.  
  
"Yea, Dad, and it's only for a little while."  
  
Wrong thing to say. Definitely the wrong thing to say.  
  
"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! MY BABY'S GOING AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh" the sobs trailed off, and he began to hiccup slightly into his wife's shoulder. Val watched, relieved.  
  
"Val, honey, why don't you get on your plane now?"  
  
"Shouldn't I say goodbye to Dad, Mom?"  
  
"No, I think he'll call you when he's more . . composed."  
  
"Right." Val shuddered at the idea of having to go through the whole crying thing. Again. Sighing, and trying to avoid the questioning stares of the crowd, he picked up his carry-on bag and handed his ticket pass to the stewardess. She took it without a sound, gaping at his father.  
  
He felt blood rush to his cheeks.  
  
Sabrina Grace Kyria  
  
The car speed seamlessly along the highway, it's wheels whirring softly in the rain. Sabrina watched as the water splattered across the windshield, watched as it ran in little rivers down her window. She leaned back into her seat, feeling the soft leather against her bare hands. So sleek, so smooth. It felt like she could slide away on this, slide away into eternity.  
  
The radio was playing. It throbbed dully through the car, echoing pathetically in the silence. Sabrina tried to concentrate on it, tried to pay attention, but it was too hard. Her mind kept going back to the silence. The silence that, even with all the noise, seemed to envelope them.  
  
She wanted, more than anything, to say something to break the silence. But her lips would not form the words, her tongue wouldn't shift in her mouth. The silence pressed down on her and she felt sick and she looked away from her window and saw them.  
  
Gaby. Staring vacantly out at the road, his face plain, a childlike handsomeness shining through. Sabrina felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of him. He looked so good, his hair dancing in the wind around his wonderfully broad shoulders, that she almost reached out to him, almost snaked her mouth around to his ear and whispered 'I love you' so that only he could hear.  
  
But she didn't. Gabriel Michael Riev was a god she was never going to have. Her eyes shifted away, to the young woman sitting next to him.  
  
Fiona. Looking out her window at the rain, though Sabrina could tell she wasn't seeing it. Absentmindedly, Fi brushed a stray lock of golden hair behind her ear. Her face, devoid of its usual, bright smile, looked empty, as it looked back at her friend, reflected in the glass of the window. Fi looked blank, all the joy gone out of her.  
  
In one fluid movement, Sabrina unbuckled her seatbelt, reached between them and turned up the radio.  
  
Gabriel Michael Riev III  
  
A pale hand sneaked to the controls of the radio. Gabriel Riev almost reached for it, thinking it had been Fiona's, but he saw that it wasn't. None of her bracelets dangled from the wrists, making their customary jingling sound. The nails weren't painted their usual vivid pink. No, this wasn't her hand. His hand paused above it, as it flicked the volume knob for the radio to half full. Then it disappeared into the back seat.  
  
Sophia's, then. Or whatever her name was.  
  
He sighed and looked out on the road, searching for something to concentrate on. Nothing. The highway stretched on in front of him forever, empty, with the beach on one side, and a petite, beautiful, blonde with a temper like a raging dragon on his other side.  
  
Geeze, Gab thought, talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.  
  
He decided to look out on the ocean. And looked back at the road. And back at the ocean. And blinked. Blinked again. And again.  
  
He heard a soft click as Sarah put her seatbelt back on.  
  
He looked at the road. Empty. No place to go.  
  
Slowly, as if of its own accord, the wheel spun, and the car pulled over.  
  
"Gaby, what are you doing?" Fiona asked him, her voice worried. It was the first words she had said to him since she had told him, half and hour before.  
  
"I thought we could go for a walk on the beach."  
  
"A walk for the beach? What? In this weather? We're all going to turn into puddles." She said, avoiding his eyes, making a lame attempt at humor.  
  
He didn't look at her, but got out of the car, dimly aware of Sally following him. He didn't care, though, he didn't care. "You hear that? I don't care! I don't care about any of it!" the roughness of his voice shocked his own hears, as he spun and began running down toward the flashes he'd seen earlier on the beach.  
  
And away from his ex-girlfriend.  
  
Ami Tanya Wilson  
  
It was raining. The rain came from the heaven and hit her face and ran with her tears down her body. She was crying, and the salty water that ran in little rivers down her face was not alone, because it was raining. The rain, cold and wet as it was, made her feel secure.  
  
But she could never be secure again.  
  
Because she no longer belonged. Not with anyone. The cheerleaders that had accepted her, they had accepted her and she had belonged with them. But not anymore. Because as soon as Fiona and Sabrina left, she was an outcast again, the freak that loved God and listened to Christian music. The freak that sang in the choir, sang soprano, and sucked.  
  
She was nothing but a freak. She had no identity.  
  
Ami could remember, when she was little, how she had imagined that she could become a beautiful, wonderful princess and everyone would love her. With the Lord on her side, she could lead her country to victory again and again against all that was evil. As a young girl she had pretended and had loved to pretend, to pretend that she belonged.  
  
And now she didn't anymore. She was, once again, alone.  
  
But she would never be alone with God.  
  
She looked at the road on her left, the black expanse that stretched to eternity of her vision. She saw only the rain. I'm alone, she thought, and sat down, on the edge of the road in the middle of nowhere. I'm completely alone. Ami put her knees down and started to cry.  
  
The soft beeping of a horn made her look up. An old, battered black car was sitting in front of her, two men in the front seat. One rolled down his window, and said "Do you need a ride?"  
  
"Sure." Standing, she realized her feet had gotten numb. The hurt and tingled as she made her way to the car and got in the backseat. One of the men, who had a long mustache and really long black hair turned to her and smiled.  
  
"Hi. I'm Zoltan Edan, and this is my friend Rodney Adli" he gestured to the other man, Rodney, who's bald head shone except for a black tattoo right in its center, some Japanese character. She looked back and forth between them, then grinned.  
  
"I'm Ami Wilson. I was wondering if you would mind taking me home?"  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
The sand gave way beneath him, faster now that he was running. He stumbled, and kept up his face. All he could think about was the possibility of Mel waiting for him at the end of his run. He had never wanted to see anyone so much . . .his feet pounded on, hitting the sand almost painfully.  
  
He was coming around the corner, and he could hear voices now. Mel's voice, one was Mel's voice, he was sure of it! And then he could see them, two-no three figures standing several yards in front of him, silhouetted against the sky, two tall and one small, childlike. One was undoubtedly Mel, he could see the flame red hair as it stuck out in all directions around her head. The other, a small kid, was standing at Mel's feet, and the other . . . his back was to Zel, but he was obviously male. A faint, gusting wind blew pieces of the their conversation to him.  
  
"You bastard, trying to ruin someone else's life?"  
  
"Miss Lina" here the wind changed direction and Zel missed the next few words "don't take your anger out on me. It's not my fault he hates you."  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
Zel stopped running, he could feel a strange crackling energy in the air, and it scared him. He couldn't bring himself to run further.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
"I said" the wind fluctuated again, blocking Xellos's voice. Wait.  
  
Xellos? What the hell was Xellos doing there? Zel blinked against the sand blowing in his face. Mel's voice came with it, and in his blindness, he heard her.  
  
"That's it. You're going down!"  
  
Gabriel Michael Riev III  
  
From where he stood on a bluff above the beach, Gab could see everything. He saw the girl, was she from his school?, scream at that Xander kid who had pissed Fiona off. Her mouth moved, and fire blazed in her eyes. Red eyes . . . .  
  
Wind whipped her short red hair around her, blowing in front of her eyes and face, but failing to mask the anger evident on her entire body. Gab watched, fascinated, terrified as she turned toward the guy with purple hair, push the little kid away from her. A sudden calm overtook her face, a focus. A deadly focus.  
  
Zack, who had been looking amused, changed as well. His became serious as he spoke to her, trying to reason with her, failing. The girl lifted her hands into the air.  
  
Abruptly, Gab saw another figure, a guy, also watching the pair on the beach, transfixed. He couldn't make out his face, but his body was rigid with what? Fear? Anger? Gab couldn't see from his current position, but he knew that the guy, like himself, was scared of what the girl was about to do.  
  
The wind, which had been carrying their voices away from him, altered itself, swinging around so that Gab could hear. He could remember the words, though he had never heard them before. The voice was sure, as if it had spoken many times, and power ran through it. The girl, it seemed, was confident.  
  
Sabrina Grace Kyria  
  
From her position, standing behind Gaby, Sabrina couldn't see much of anything. She could listen, though, listen to the voice that rang clearly above the sound of the surf. "Darkness Beyond Twilight, Crimson Beyond Blood that Flows, Buried in the Flow of Time is Where Your Power Grows. I pledge myself to conquer, all the foes that stand, against the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand" she could see a pink glow surrounding Gaby, and suddenly everything went into slow motion.  
  
Gaby stepped back. His foot hit her leg, they both fell down. The sand stung as it hit her, a cut on her leg opened, she was bleeding and her blood was a thick crimson on her pale leg. She looked up, and then she saw the car, and the figure running down towards them. A figure that looked familiar. Ami.  
  
Then she looked back at the beach, and saw the girl, hair billowing around her, a glowing ball of red energy in her hand. And Sabrina knew that she was terrified.  
  
"DRAGON SLAVE!!!!"  
  
Melina Callie Rivers/Lina Inverse  
  
She could feel a dark, crackling energy begging to surround her. Her hair stood on end and strange ripples of light flowed down her body. But she didn't think about that, she couldn't, all her mind was concentrated on the spell that she held in her hands. She felt her arms move down, and then felt the energy leave her, felt it rocket towards Xellos.  
  
Only Xellos wasn't there anymore. Instead, Lina could see the form of Zelgadis. Her best friend. The kid who had been with her since before nursery school, her ally, the only person that meant anything to her anymore.  
  
She retreated into her own mind.  
  
It was dark and cool, and she could feel water trickling around her. In front of her, a screen showed the deadly red ball as it flowed toward Zel. And for a moment, she cared. But only a moment, and it passed. She was so tired, it hurt to much to do anything anymore.  
  
Why change it. It was fate. The world hated her, she hated the world. There was no reason to keep going. She could stay here, here in her head, and she'd never have to do anything again. IT would be so . . peaceful . . she lay back, exhausted.  
  
"Lina . . . . ."  
  
The word echoed and drifted around the cave, if it was indeed a cave she was in, echoing and reforming, its dead monotone woke her from her sleep. The screen in front of her had frozen. Time had stopped.  
  
"Lina . . . . ."  
  
It was a different voice this time, a feminine voice, high and dull, and it echoed with the first, distorting her name. She sat up and looked around.  
  
"Lina . . . . ."  
  
The last voice was deeper than the first, more masculine. It terrified her, it sounded so sad and . . . and dead.  
  
"What? Who are you? Where are you?" She spun around, frantically searching for them, because she knew them. She knew them and she loved them. Finally, she saw, coming at her from the side, three black people, their features and bodies hidden.  
  
"Don't let us die, Lina . . . Lina . . ." The collective voice rumbled, and she saw more figures behind the first, many, many more. "Don't let us die . . ."  
  
"Why would you die?" They were starting to fade.  
  
"If you leave, we will have no reason to live . . Don't let us die . . Lina . . . Lina . . ."  
  
She panicked. "NO!! Don't leave me!!! Don't!!! I don't want to be alone!!!"  
  
Only one was left now, the tallest of the first three figures. He murmured, softly "Don't let me die, Lina, don't let me die. Don't let me die, Lina, don't let me die." Then he, too, faded away, and she was left in blackness.  
  
"GOURRY!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Zoltan Edan  
  
The people he could see on the beach changed. The girl, who had been lying on the ground got up, frantically, looking terrified. Then the big, glowing ball of whatever it was started towards them. Towards the car in which he sat, where Rodney was.  
  
Rodney. A soft smile graced Zol's face, as he thought of the man next to him. His best friend in the world, who had seen him through bad times and good, who had come away with him so that they could live together, away from Zol's too proper family. Rodney, who had taken such good care of him, and had finally agreed to go back to their childhood home so that Zol could be reconciled with his family. Rodney, his companion, his lover.  
  
A red glow started to fill the car.  
  
A life played before Zol's eyes. A life where he and Rodney were together, united under the master they served. A life where he was powerful, where they fought together, where they lived to cure the man that they both loved above anything. A life that ended, suddenly, when he was too careless and stupid to see what his actions would do. When he had gone up against the greatest dark lord that had ever lived, to save the master. When he had failed.  
  
Zoltan turned, to see his Rodney looking at him, and he knew that he was not alone in remembering.  
  
And then he took the other's hand.  
  
And then he died. 


	8. Epilouge for Part One

Slayers Resurrection  
  
A.N. Hi again. How did you like last chapter. I was gonna put this with it, only I had such a dramatic end, and it was so LONG anyways. So here you go. Epilogue. I hope you like.  
  
Just a note, this isn't from anyone's point of view. But you probably could have figured that out.  
  
Epilogue  
  
The morning, was it still morning, could it really be morning, of Christmas dawned with a usual yellow glow, and a soft snow. Like a million silver stars, the flakes descended onto earth, striking the ground in silence.  
  
The heavens wept.  
  
And, looking out the window in the deserted airport, a young woman wept as well.  
  
She was not beautiful, no, nor would she ever be beautiful. She was far too different to be beautiful, but she was translucent, unearthly, in her own way. Soft tendrils of red hair curled down to where they had been vicious chopped off, near the base of her neck. Her mouth, small without its usual smile, twisted slightly, mocking fate and her position in it. A nose, proud and distinct, sprinkled with freckles, showed some of her innate determination. And her eyes, eyes too old for her scant sixteen years of age, defined her and all that she was.  
  
Now they were sad.  
  
For she was old, aged incredibly in the short day that she had spent as a new person. She had already faced death, death and the power to administer in it. She had breathed, smelt, tasted, heard and saw it, and like so many others, she had changed.  
  
As she stared at the snow, a boy appeared behind her, a man really, her height, more sturdily built than she was. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned, a smile tugging at her lips. It didn't reach her eyes though, her eyes were still sorrowful. He smiled back at her, but his, like hers, was sad.  
  
Death hadn't left those around her untouched, it seemed.  
  
They moved away from the window, walking steadily toward the desk. There, a pretty, smiling brunette asked them for idea and money, handed them tickets. Like the others in the sparsely occupied airport, she assumed them to be brother and sister, and so they might well have been.  
  
They could have been anyone.  
  
The way to the gate was long and trying. Both had the mark of exhaustion on them, but his arm stayed around her shoulders, and she welcomed his support. They trudged, moving like they needed walkers, slowly, and said nothing to each other. There was nothing that either could think of to say. She, because she was ashamed, in the deepest part of her soul. He, because he feared her.  
  
They paused when a voice called their names. She turned first, her head moving away from his, to see a ebony-haired girl running toward them. The child still bore the mark of youth, and her eyes sparkled with her life, only becoming serious when she reached the pair.  
  
Only a few words passed between them. The redhead looked angry. The young man looked resigned. The child stuck out her jaw and looked determined.  
  
Soon they continued, the dark haired coming with them. Now, they all walked alone, with no support from one another. All seemed to draw into themselves, looking alone despite their company of three.  
  
Three's a crowd.  
  
The plane was boarding. There were only two other people there, getting on. No one looked at eachother, and even though the three-some sat together, their eyes played evasive games of hide a seek. They were avoiding each other.  
  
The plane lifted off, into a gray sky.  
  
The heavens wept.  
  
A.N. TADA!!!!!!!! And so Ends Part I of Slayers Resurrection. If you want part two, u gonna have to review. Kay? Kay. I don't care what you say. Tell me it sucks if you will. JUST TELL ME!!!! ANYTHING!!!  
  
Credits  
  
The Real Peoples: First to Scott: for lending me slayers . . all of slayers . . . happy face Then to Robin: for actually listening to me babble about my story for an entire bus ride and then reading it and stuff. Thanks. You go girl.  
  
The FF.Net peoples: What can I say? Everyone who's reviewed has been just fabulous. Really. Thanks. Umm . . super-extra-special thanks to the first three peoples who reviewed me and to I like Angst and Illione. *dries eyes* Thank you peoples.  
  
And that's it. Review for the next chapter, if you want it.  
  
Toodles.  
  
Divine Firefly. 


	9. Part II Chapter 1

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Part II  
  
Chapter One  
  
Jack Stilston-Laws  
  
The curt tap-tap of his secretary's heels on the polished tile floor was really what woke him up, but, tired as he was after last night's fiasco, Jack Stilston-Laws didn't raise his head till she spoke to him.  
  
"Sleeping on the job Again, are we Jack?"  
  
Yawning, and smiling sardonically he looked up at her, and immediately wished he hadn't. Jillian Crut was one of the ugliest women he had ever met, and today she had decided to overdo her make up again. Jeeze.  
  
"Why, yes, Jillian, I was sleeping on the job. Were you?"  
  
She rolled her eyes, which forced him to notice the bottle of mascara that had been forced onto her eyelashes. He shuddered involuntarily. "Jack. Rex Draconis is coming today for the Rivers case you assigned him to. You do remember, right?"  
  
Of course he remembered. God. He hadn't been drinking that much. Jack bit the inside of his mouth and glared at her until he was able to speak civilly. "Really Jillian? Thanks for reminding me! I really did forget!"  
  
She looked smug. "He's down the hall with his new-uhm-girlfriend. Shall I call them in?"  
  
"Certainly, Jillian, you do that."  
  
He looked down at his desk again, until the tap-tap of her heels told him she had retreated, and sighed. Rex. Today. He did not need this. All too soon, the sound of several pairs of feet alerted him to her return, and then his door was flung open.  
  
It was hard to distinguish, from the squirming tangle of arms and legs that appeared in the doorway, his tall, charismatic colleague Rex Draconis. What Jack saw instead was a whole lot of thick, ebony hair, big, bouncing breasts, and long, tan, shaved legs. Here and there he saw a large hand, a shock of red hair. He sighed and looked down at his desk again. He did not need this. Not today. Not right now.  
  
"Jack!" the jovial voice woke him from his attempt to count all the little black dots in the plastic covering of his desk. 33. Damn.  
  
"Rex." It sounded more like a grunt than a name. Oh well. He tried. Jack looked up, to see that they had disentangled themselves. Now a broad shouldered, tall, god of manhood sat in the chair opposite from Jack's desk, his somewhat scary red hair and eyebrows contrasting with his wide smile. Perched near his right arm was one of the most beautiful women Jack had ever seen. The black hair he'd noticed before was short and stylishly cut, her legs were amazingly, unbelievably long, her body beyond perfect. She gave him a half smile, and he sighed. This was Rex's girlfriend. The urge to put his head down again was almost overwhelming.  
  
"Soo, Jack, you have an assignment for me?"  
  
Don't put the head down. Don't put the head down. Just don't do it. "Uuuh, yes. Yes. The River's case."  
  
"Rivers?"  
  
He started thinking again. "Yea. Rivers. Very freaky case."  
  
"Freaky. Hmm."  
  
Rex looked distinctly uninterested. Well, that was too bad because he'd have to take this case. "It all started several weeks ago when this woman came in, saying her daughter had disappeared. She was really upset, crying and tugging her hair out. When we got the story out of her, the situation turned even more weird. Apparently, at some ballet recital or something, this strange boy with purple hair talks to their daughter and she flips. Beats this boy into a pulp and then runs out the door. She'd been gone ever since."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
Jack stood up and moved so that he was looking out the window. Little people below him twisted and turned, their lived peaceful and undisturbed. He saw three petty little crimes transpire, a car whose meter had run out several hours ago, a taxi illegally parked, a little boy pickpocket this rich old man. He leaned his head against the glass and sighed, his men would probably miss all of them. "Well," he continued, "we checked at the hospital. The kid was there. Some guy named Valerie Garth. Strange looking kid, tall, skinny, blue hair-"  
  
"Blue?"  
  
"Yeah. Blue. Said he'd dyed it in the begging of the year. At any rate, he was there and he confirmed the story. The girl that had beat him was Melina Rivers. She had disappeared right after committing the act. So we started to look here and there, you know, with any extra men we had. The boys liked the idea of the case, they spent a lot of time fantasizing about what had happened, what the freaky guy had told her. After a couple weeks, though, we kinda gave up. Other stuff to do, you know, other cases to run. Actually, the Rivers situation slipped my mind until yesterday."  
  
"This her?" Jack glanced over at Rex, who was looking intently at a picture from the file. He looked focused and serious, apparently the case had started to interest him. When he saw Jack looking at him, he handed him a photo, a snap shot of a girl with really short, bright red hair. She was wearing punk paraphernalia, what some of the freaky kids on the streets wore nowadays, really baggy blue jeans and a black and maroon pinstriped dress over them. It was a photo that Mrs. Rivers had given them, a shot of her daughter from a couple months ago. Jack shuddered involuntarily as he looked at it, at the clear red eyes that stared unblinkingly up at him. He had seen plenty of criminals in his time, and this kid had their eyes. There was no mercy in those eyes.  
  
He drew in a shuddering breath before continuing. "Yea. Melina Callie Rivers. Mel for short."  
  
"Says something on the back." Rex said, frowning down at the thing. " 'Mel gets her lovely red hair chopped off. Mom in tears. Dad grounded her for a week. Don't worry, Daddy, Mommy, I'll grow MY hair out.'."  
  
"That was her sister. Luma Serena Rivers. Older by two years. But anyway, yesterday." He sighed again, his breath turned the window opaque. "Yesterday a car went down on the highway, a pretty coastal road actually. Very nice. Not maintained by the state, some woman keeps it up. Anyways. The car is said to have blown up. Only four eyewitnesses that we could find. Three girls, Fiona Drygoon, Sabrina Kyria, and this little kid. Alia, she said her name was. One guy, Gabriel Riev. This is what they tell me." He passed Rex a typed sheet.  
  
The man's eyes flew down it, first surprise, then amazement on his face. He put it down and looked at Jack, whistling softly beneath his breath. The woman with him grabbed the paper and started reading it.  
  
"What do you want me to do?"  
  
"First, I want you to know that as of this morning, Melina Rivers, Ami Wilson and the guy that was with them on the beach, they have all disappeared. Gone. I want you to find out where the hell they are. Also, I want all the info on everyone involved that you can get. Last, I want to know what's going. Why does this girl disappear? What motivated her to blow up the car? I want to know it all Rex. You can start with the first one."  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Where the hell are they!"  
  
Eric Zelgadis Grey  
  
"I want to know exactly what happened." Zel's voice shook with barely controlled rage as he faced his best friend Melina Rivers in their first conversation since she had run out of the reception for the ballet recital, several weeks ago. Since then there had been nothing, nothing at all, until she had appeared on the beach, almost blowing him up, but instead, hitting a car and killing two innocent people. Then, it had been him who had realized that the poliece would probably be after them, him that had pulled her to the airport, got them tickets using Rezo's credit card. It was him who had let got them on the plane. The only thing she had done, in the past hours, was convincing him to bring Ami along. Which, he felt after half an hour of the girl's babbling about God, since she was gone for a bathroom break it was blissfully silent, had been a distinctly bad decision on Mel's part.  
  
"Tell me everything." He repeated himself, because Mel had given no sign at his first question that she had heard him.  
  
Now, though, she looked up, and spoke for the first time in a really, really long time. "No."  
  
"Mel, dammit, tell me!"  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes red from crying, her hair a mess, her mouth set in a determined line. "No."  
  
"I Need to know." He knew he couldn't shout on the plane, knew the stewardesses would hear him and question him, but his voice rang with urgency. He did need to know.  
  
Her eyes turned sad, and took on a quality of age. "Don't make me, Zel, please. I can't. Zel, please, don't do that to me." She was pleading with him. Pleading! With him, her best friend! She wanted him to wait! Well, dammit, he was done with waiting!!  
  
"How can you say that?" She looked startled; she hadn't expected this from him. "How can you say that? I'm your friend, Mel, your best friend! How can you say 'don't do that to me' when you've already done the unspeakable? How do you think it felt, Mel, being alone? Not knowing where you were, if you were safe? Do you know how I felt like I was going to throw up when your parents told me that you hadn't come home that night, that they thought I was with you? Do you know Mel? There's nothing that you can't tell me!" his voice broke, there was a haunted look in his eyes as he turned away. "You don't know what it's like to be abandoned."  
  
He was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Mel, and her eyes mirrored his own. "Yes. Yes I do." Their eyes looked so similar, he could see his in hers. Amber light fractured a billion times in the red depths before him, her irises seemed to glow with her intensity. "But I'd better start from the beginning. Once upon a time, so long ago you can't remember it, there was a sorceress. Her hair was the color of flame; she wielded the power of nightmares. Her name was Lina Inverse."  
  
Ami Wilson  
  
There was silence, welcome, beautiful silence for her to sink into, to dwell in. She thought that Zel, behind her, had fallen asleep. At least he had stopped talking to Mel, stopped pumping her for info on their past life. The life she had said they'd once led. Ami shivered, even though the plane was well heated. That life. The life she'd never known.  
  
So engrossed in her thoughts was she that she didn't' hear the quiet, sniffling crying for several minutes. When she did hear it, she got out of her seat, moved to sit down with Melina and Zel again. It was Mel that was crying, softly, the tears slipping down her face, as each had to fight for her to let go of them. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair disheveled, it hung in clingly clumps around her cheeks.  
  
Ami watched her for a moment, then sat down. "Why are you crying?"  
  
Mel looked up, startled. "Oh, Ami. I didn't realize-"  
  
"Its okay. You guys were engrossed."  
  
"You heard?"  
  
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. It was my life too, right?" Ami smiled, trying to cover that she really had been hurt, as she marveled at this sensitive turn on Mel's personality. At school, she'd always seemed so loud, so in your face about everything. Now she was . . . subdued? Was that the right word? After seeing her blow up a car so recently, Ami couldn't be sure.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Why were you crying?"  
  
Mel reached up and wiped her tears, didn't answer. Ami didn't persist, her brother was like this sometimes. People need their space. Finally, Mel turned to her. Her eyes were more bloodshot than before, she'd been doning more crying.  
  
"Do you think I really killed those two people in the car?"  
  
In one simple movement, Mel was crying into her shoulder, and Ami was kissing her hair as maternally as she could. She felt different, older, more mature. She felt like she was someone else.  
  
So it was that, holding her in an embrace, Amelia murmured "Lina" into Melina Rivers hair.  
  
The sun sank into the sea.  
  
Kelly West  
  
As the soft-spoken, brunette stewardess rustled up and down the aisle, she took particular notice of the kids that had gotten on from Massachusetts. (Or was it New York? She never could remember . . .)  
  
The boy, who, though he was a whole head shorter than Kelly, was very attractive, slept. The others did too, of course, but he had been the first to fall asleep. His face was relaxed and soft, even with the acne along it, he screamed of innocent youth. She could love such a face.  
  
Beside him, in a gangly embrace, were the two girls. His sister and girlfriend, she decided, for two of them had the same black hair. The other, the red head, attracted her attention. She was beautiful, in a strange way, a different way. Her features were delicate but at the same time had strength. Her mouth looked diminished without a smile, but it was her hair, her glourious red hair, that made people stop to pause. It caught the light shinning down on it, it glowed. Kelly breathed softly, then reached for the light that they had left on.  
  
As she was stretched over them, so she couldn't see who said it, someone spoke, one word, which she didn't understand.  
  
She walked back up the aisle rolling it on her tounge. "Rezo . . . Rezo . . ."  
  
A.N.: Thanks so much for all the support that I've been getting and I love each and every one of you for it and YAY!!! I feel so special and happy and good and YAY!!!! Okay, I will stop eventually and apologize for not putting this up for so long and for not making it very long but I hope you like Rex and Jack and Natalie and Kelly, even though she probably won't come back into this. I love you all so much . . .  
  
Toodles . . . love should be peace but isn't right now . . .  
  
Divine Firefly 


	10. Part II Chapter 2

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Part II  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Rex Draconis  
  
A translucent peace had settled on the suburban neighborhood, the peace that comes with fresh snow. As still and undisturbed as the smooth white sheets that blanketed them, the houses were quiet, the hustle and bustle of post-Christmas cleaning was absent, as was the soft sound of women singing as they made breakfast or the accustomed grumbling of their husbands as they walked out the get the paper. Plastic snowman saluted cheerfully from their spots on some lawns, coated with really snow, and the traces of cat's footprints could be found along the frozen crust where they had padded along that night. The rosy glow of the sun was reflected hundreds of times on the mirror like surface of the drifts, giving the area an almost fictional feel.  
  
All in all, the red headed man standing alone on the street corner looked entirely out of place.  
  
He was tall, standing about six foot five, and muscularly built, as if he regularly visited the gym. His shoulders were broad, his waist, while not narrow, was tapered and well constructed, his legs were obviously very strong. He was not dressed for a December the 26 in New Hampshire, he looked, rather, as if he lived in Hawaii for all his life and had appeared, out of the blue, into the new cold environment. The coat he wore, though long, was thin and not suitable for someone of his appearance, it looked like something a teen would wear, pockets at every available place, it was a pale shad of beige, however it was in no place ripped or frayed, but was trim and neat and pressed, as were his other clothes. Under the coat was a blue Hawaiian print tee shirt and loose khaki leather pants. The oddest thing about his appearance, despite his clothes, was his hair, which was fell down to his waist in a straight ponytail and was not red, but scarlet. His eyebrows and sideburns were also bright red, and they glinted in the early morning sun.  
  
Taking long strides, he moved toward one house in the center of the block. Golden letters gleamed on the mailbox. Kyria.  
  
A little boy was the first to open, though he wasn't really little per say, as everyone was tiny compared to this giant. Rex smiled down at him, a cheesy, bright, physiatrist smile. The little boy looked up at him, and, for just a moment, a calculating look flashed on his face. Then, he grinned as well, a angelic innocence materializing across his face. "Hello."  
  
"Hey, kid." Rex said, crouching down so they were on the same eye level. "My name's Mr. Draconis. Do you think your mommy and daddy would mind if I came in and talked to your sister? I work for the police." The last sentence sounded almost like an afterthought.  
  
The boy's smile changed form one of curious friendliness to one of contempt. In clear, sarcastic English he replied, "Hiya Mr. Rex, sir. My name's Phib Kyria. If you want to talk to my sister she's upstairs. In her room. Where she belongs. As for my mother and father, they don't give a crap about you, or about anyone but themselves, so you're safe there. The police have been by already. Who are you?"  
  
Rex didn't look taken aback, mildly surprised, or even faintly ruffled. "The name's Mr. Draconis. I told you. Your sisters in her room you say? Where would that be?"  
  
Phib smiled happily again. "Up the stairs. First right after the bathroom. You'll hear the classical music from a mile away."  
  
Sabrina Grace Kyria  
  
When the stranger first knocked on her door, she didn't notice. She was right in the middle of one of her favorite violin concerto's by Mozart, and when she did notice, she didn't praticualarly want to get up. Besides, it was the morning after Christamas, and she it wasn't like she was going to bound up on her oh so tired legs and greet whatever family member wanted to yell at her for whatever reason.  
  
But her family members never knocked that much. After the concerto was over, at the fifth knock, she finally pulled herself up, smiling and preparing to be her wonderful perky self. Her cheeks hurt from all the beaming she'd been doing because of Christmas. Sighing, she crossed the neat, clean room and opened the door.  
  
A man stood there.  
  
He was a very, very tall man, she had to crane her head up to look at him, and she considered herself a tall person. His red hair was very bush and boardered on scary, his mouth seemed fond of smiling and he looked, as far as she could tell, very kind.  
  
"Hello", she said, pleasantly, because she was pleasant as a rule, and there was no reason to be anything but pleasant.  
  
"Hello", he responded, and in his response she caught the first whiff of trouble, in the sleepy, sardonic, conceited undertones of his voice. "I'm Rex Draconis. I'm with the police department", she unconsciously backed away, the memories of the 24th were not something she enjoyed going through, "I realize you've talked about this before, but I'm conducting a special investigation. I'd like you to help me." She could hear haughtiness in his voice, and a certain amount of irony.  
  
The bed was right behind her, she sat on it, dazed. She could feel tension in her shoulders. He moved his head very close to hers. His eyes made her feel dizy and disoriented. She was loosing her touch on reality. She could feel his breath on her face.  
  
"I want you to help me, Sabrina. I want you to talk to me. Talk to me. Sylphiel."  
  
She began to speak. "It was early in the morning when Fiona called me that day. She said that she and Gaby were going out to eat breakfast at IHOP, she wanted to know if I would come. Well, I asked my parents, and they said it was okay, so I went. I wore my favorite white shirt and washed out jeans. I thought I was looking nice that day, better than usual.  
  
"When Gaby picked me up, it was his car we were driving. His car's a convertible, but it was supposed to rain that day, so we put the hood up. He drove us to breakfast along the costal road, you know, the one old Ms. Rainer keeps up. I got scared when he swerved, but then he and Fi laughed, it was a game.  
  
"We got to IHOP, finally, and I ordered one fried egg. I wasn't really hungry. Fi ordered some pancakes and Gaby got triple portions of pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage and some eggs. I think they were scrambled. During the meal, he said that I cooked better eggs. I was happy. But Fi was edgy for the whole meal. She kept glancing at me and then at Gaby. I didn't know what she was about until she cornered me in the bathroom and told me she wanted to brake up with him. I tried to convince her not to do it, she loves Gaby. But she was set. We left the restaurant shortly afterward.  
  
"So when we were driving back, just before the coastal road, she sprung it on him. Just like that. It was like 'Gaby, I think we shoult brake up.' And then there was silence. I turned on the radio" Sabrina pantomimed twisting the knob " and we kept driving. It was really quiet. No one knew what to say.  
  
"Finally, Gaby pulled over on the side of the road, and got out, with no warning. I was startled, but then went out after him. I wanted to hold him if he cried . . . so then I got out after him. Gaby was in my way, so I couldn't see much, but I could hear this girl talking."  
  
"What was she saying?" The man's voice startled her, she blinked several times. He was staring intently at her, his eyes large and almost red.  
  
"A spell, I think. It sounded like one. It felt familiar somehow. I had major, what's it called?, you know, the French thing." She shook her head "Anyway. . it was familiar. Something about . . .about dragons . ." she looked up at him again "and I looked up and could see Ami from school and then there was all this red light. Then silence. Fiona came down the hill looking upset and we all bundled back in. We were all kinda confused, Gaby drove us home. Next thing I know, the police are questioning us." The last line was delivered with an accusatory glare.  
  
"What about the others?"  
  
"What?" She looked confused again, her eyes wide, her hair in her face.  
  
"Where did they go? After all the red light? The others?"  
  
"I didn't see. Gaby was in my way. But as we were getting in the car, I saw Ami run down there and there were four people on the beach. One looked like a little kid." Sabrina looked up, after living through it again the trance was broken. "Was I helpful?"  
  
"Nothing I hadn't heard before, but thanks anyway."  
  
She smiled at his peculiar behavior. This man was an odd one. He reminded her of Phib, somehow, but no, that was insane, her brother was nothing like this man. She barely heard his very rushed 'bye' or her own, she was too caught up in thought. Something . . . something about him. She' couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something, something confusingly familiar.  
  
She remembered the phrase now, the French one she had been looking for. Her voice was soft as summer wind and almost below audible, but she felt herself say it. "Déjà vu."  
  
Gordon Ken  
  
The house was empty. He could feel the emptiness in the silence; at the dinner table, as he baked, as he cleaned. He could feel it in the heavy way he had started walking. He could see it on the empty couch, the bedding next to it folded neatly, waiting for its owner to come back.  
  
Lina.  
  
He knew that the house was empty, because the emptiness of his home echoed the emptiness he himself felt.  
  
He sighed and pushed out the cookie dough again, his weight on the rolling pin. He was making a batch of sugar cookies to sell before his customary New Year's Eve sale, and they were coming along great. He had added some nut-meg into the batch, and had his favorite cookie cutters out. Already his baking sheet was adorned with the time's square ball, the New Year's baby, horns blaring in celebration, and a multitude of other holiday symbols, their pale yellow crust waiting to be baked. The smell of dough filled the air. Like the night she left.  
  
He could still see her, in his minds eye, as she fell towards the door, her hands at her temples her eyes wide and her mouth open. He could still hear her heavy breathing, could still fell the tension in the air. He could still remember how she had shut herself off from him, how she had collapsed inward, trying to hide her pain from him. Trying to hide herself from him.  
  
He shook, sat back in a chair and gripped its side hard, his knuckles turning white. Out the window, the burning penny that was the sun sunk behind the mountains. The ugly lamp was the only light in the room when his grip finally loosened, when his head drooped.  
  
He dreamed.  
  
It was a night mare he had been having frequently, and the sickening familiarity of it made him feel like retching. But, as always, it started out happily enough. She was sitting there, on the tree trunk, her long red hair swinging in the wind, smiling widely as she spoke to him, her voice lilting around the campsite. Her hands helped her with her story, dancing through the air. She was smiling at him, her attention directed at him, and though he couldn't hear her words, he smiled back. The image faded.  
  
Then they were at an inn of sorts, late at night. She was sitting in a chair with other people around her, a girl with dark hair, a man with blue skin, holding a coffee cup. Again, she was talking, this time to the girl, the girl was looking very confused. She looked up at him and grinned, and he took a seat across from her.  
  
And then he was standing, holding a sword, and she was screaming. Was it words or was it in pain? He lunged toward her, but he could not reach her and she was fading away . . . .  
  
Fiona Drygoon  
  
Fi sighed and put her head on her hands. Gaby was at a business trip with his parents, supposedly, but really she thought he was avoiding her. Which hurt. She had been feeling really guilty about dumping him; she shuddered hearing the word, even in her own mind. And now the rumors were getting spread around school. Some people confronted her; others stared at her with open mouths. One had even slapped her. Why was it wrong of her to feel tired of a relationship? What was so wrong with that? She just wanted to move on, she didn't love Gaby and never had, why should she stay with him when she could be with someone she really wanted?  
  
Like Valerie.  
  
Since they went to different schools, she didn't know where he was right now, but there was a soccer game this weekend, and she would see him there. Her heart beat faster at the thought. In her minds eyes, she could see him now, sweating and panting from a long run, pushing his blue hair out of his eyes. It hurt, though, knowing that she couldn't go talk to him: that would be too obvious. Visiting him in the hospital had been way too much as it was, she didn't want him to think she was stalking him or something.  
  
But, God, stalking him sounded like a good idea to her.  
  
Fi picked her head up off her desk as she heard the classroom door close. The woman entering was not her usual advanced mathematics teacher, it was a woman. A tall, thin, beautiful woman, with long silky blond hair wearing, gasp, fashionable clothes. Fi had never seen a teacher wearing anything near up-to-date but this woman was beyond it. She wore a sexy, tight, blue shirt that showed off her protruding collarbones, her long thin fingers and arms. Her pants were flared and were made of a soft white fabric. Fi stared at her in envy, she would kill for clothes that expensive. (Her parents, as they would soon be putting Malgasia through four years at MIT had become very frugal in their buying habits.)  
  
The teacher glanced over them all, then with a smile, she placed a long, thin pipe between her lips. The class watched, agast. Murmurs like little ripples ran from mouth to mouth, 'is that even allowed in here?' 'who is she?' 'that smoke sure looks good' 'does she even know how she's crapping up her lips?'. The only comment Fi made, when a girl turned to her, was "All I want to know is where she bought that shirt." This satisfied the girl, and she turned away, leaving Fiona to her rather unpleasant thoughts.  
  
Really, she wanted to know everything everyone else was asking, and one other, important thing. Why was the woman watching them like that? Her eyes, cool and purple, surveyed them all, her gaze was calculating. She seemed to be looking for something, she stopped at every face and searched it, piercingly. Her look, her manner, her eyes reminded Fi of someone very strongly.  
  
Xelloss.  
  
"Hello." The woman spoke at last, her voice soft and sultry. A woman's voice. The voice of a temptress. "My name is Ms. Metalium. I will be your new advanced math teacher."  
  
Now the murmurs became louder. 'New math teacher? What happened to Mr. Grubskee? Where's he?' 'God, this room stinks of smoke.' 'I hope she doesn't give us homework.' 'Do you think she'll smoke in every class?' 'Wait, Metalium as in that Xellos kid?'  
  
The sound was cut short by the door swinging open, and, lo and behold, who stood there but Xellos?  
  
Speak of the devil, Fi thought. But her reflection was cut short, when Xellos started to speak.  
  
"She's not here anymore."  
  
The woman looked up, turned sharply to face him. Her voice turned cold and deadly. "What?"  
  
"She left, with two of the other vermin. They're gone."  
  
Everyone's eyes were fixed on them. Fi was the only one to speak, in a hurried whisper soft as the wind "where did they go?"  
  
Ms. Metalium, or whatever her name was, spoke again. "Who knows where they are?"  
  
Xellos grimaced, he looked as if he had been expecting this question. No, dreading it. "The hell master. Gaav. I don't know about Dolphin and Dynast yet, I have not encountered them in this world."  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"I believe" Xellos paused, seemed to think. "I know. She is in this hemisphere, on this continent, in this country, in the southwester region. They have been moving."  
  
The woman smiled, a cruel smile this time, that made Fi shiver, though the room was well heated. "Find them."  
  
DUN DUN DUUUN!!!  
  
To be continued . . . .  
  
Sorry for the wait between updates, I've been really busy. Also, sorry for the short chapter. But anyway, I'm so excited! Now the real plot of Slayers Ressurection is about to come out!! YAY!!! ^_^!!! Okay, I'm happy.  
  
Peace is love.  
  
Divine Firefly 


	11. Part II Chapter 3

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Part II  
  
A.N.: Oki-doki!! Sorry for my short little snippet of a note last time, but I was so tired. I just wanted to finish and SLEEP!! But now I'm done. Whoppeee. And I've slept. Okay, yeah, now that there has been sleeping, I can tell you that this chapter has taken forever because a. it's long, at least kinda long, b. because I have been sleep-deprieved and writing papers and taking exams all week, and c. because It just TOOK FOREVER. That's how it was. But now it's done, and I'm so happy about my little baby . . . . ( . . . . I love it. . . .Okay. I'm done. But thanks to the PERSON, as in ONE, who has reviewed. I appreciate it. And I don't really mind not getting other reviews. They're just nice.  
  
Okay, so here we go:  
  
Chapter Three  
  
When Lina woke up, she lay with her eyes closed, relishing the warmth around her. The yellow glow behind her eyelids told her it was morning, she could feel Gordon's cat, Ginger, resting on her arm. She could hear, distantly, Gordon himself singing softly as he prepared breakfast. Carefully, she blinked her eyes up, unwilling.  
  
The ceiling was red, changing the early sunlight to orange. She sighed as it came into focus, shattering her illusions. It was the soft canvass of the tent that she and Ami and Zel had bought near the airport in Albuquerque or whatever that damn city had been called, shortly after their plane had landed. What she had thought was Ginger was actually Ami's arm sprawled across her. Lina sighed. These early morning fantasies had become a ritual for her. It took a while, after she woke up, before she remembered there were things she would rather forget, took a while for her to forget she wasn't in paradise.  
  
Sighing, she sat up. Next to her, Ami was still sound asleep, her knees pulled up, in a fetal position. Lina smiled, a soft, motherly, but sad smile. She remembered Amelia. She missed her. On her other side, Zel had rolled up, in typically, neat Zel-fashion, his sleeping bag. He was already up, apparently. The closed space of the tent smelt of sweat and bodies, and also faintly of smoke. The body heat from the three of them had kept it warm, and now the sunlight was making it almost unbearable. Lina stood.  
  
She had slept in the clothes she would wear today, and had worn yesterday, so there was no changing to be done. She was in an uncomfortable, crouched position, but she still looked back, a habitual glance to check and make sure that everything was as it should be. Ami, missing her presence, had rolled over, and now made a soft, discontented noise. She looked child-like when she slept, so innocent. Lina sighed, again. It was amazing that anything looked innocent to her anymore.  
  
She crawled out of the tent. The moment the flap was open, she was met with a harsh blast of cold wind. She, only wearing a tee-shirt and jeans, shivered, all hints of drowsiness blown away. Her mind began to work quickly, as it had started to do ever since she became a sorceress again. The wind was cold, it was winter, probably it would warm during the day, though. The sky was cloudless, which was good, no rain. The air was heavy with smoke; it made her eyes water. It was coming from behind the tent. Zel must be cooking breakfast. The trees around them were far away that she would see anyone that had been hiding come out while they were still far enough away to attack. She could hear no cars, which meant it was still very early morning. The ground beneath her feet was dry and dusty, she shifted her feet. Some of the loose earth came up and hit her in eyes. They started to tear heavily. When she had blinked them away, she was sure of the safety of her spot. She moved toward Zel, breakfast sounded wonderful.  
  
He looked up as she approached, but said nothing. She, too, was silent. He went back to heating the canned foods in their frying pan. Lina settled down near him, the wind at her back, to watch the sun rising. She could hear Zel softly stirring the warming soup with the lid of the can. The traveling kettle began to sing, warmed by the hot rocks. It was only then that the first word was spoken. "Coffee?"  
  
"No, thanks." She kept her back to him, listening as he rummaged about in the worn duffle for the coffee grounds that they had been using for the past week.  
  
"This'll be crap", he said, almost to himself. She made a guttural sound in agreement. That had been why she had refused it. It was so weak. "Hey, Mel?"  
  
"Yeah?" She didn't even try to correct the name he used, or wonder why she had responded to it, why she felt it still owned her.  
  
He paused, she could almost hear him think. "How'd you sleep?" the question sounded lame, it wasn't what he had intended to ask. She sighed.  
  
"Fine. Just fine." They lapsed into silence. The trickle of water as Zel poured it through the filter into the cup was quiet, but they both clung to it, as something to listen to in the empty, empty dessert. Finally, she spoke again. "I didn't dream."  
  
"Really?" he sounded surprised. All three of them had been dreaming consistently since they had started camping.  
  
"Yeah. Nothing." That, in truth, was a lie. She had dreamed, but it was not a dream Zel would be interested in. She had dreamed about camping alone with Gordon, in the wilderness back east. She had dreamed about eating in an old-fashioned restaurant with him. In these dreams, she had been so happy to be with him, to be where she was, that she hadn't noticed crucial details that usually pronounced themselves in her mind, for example, Gordon's long hair, and Zel and Amelia's presence. So she didn't say anything about them. There was silence again.  
  
At last, "I did."  
  
"Really?" they both looked up as Ami walked around the tent, her voice soft in their ears. She was wearing a sweatshirt, and tossed one to Lina, who grabbed it and pulled it on.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Welcome." Ami focused on Zel again, the childish light that glowed in her eyes when she looked at him shining through. "What did you dream?"  
  
He took a deep breath, Lina turned around to face them both. "Well", he began, "in the beginning I was alone. I was looking for something, something I wanted desperately. But I couldn't find it. It was making me so angry, I was so frustrated. But then, then I remember I thought I had found something that would help me. They, the people who had it, made me fight someone, and I hated it, but I couldn't and then there was this red glow." He looked embarrassed and turned away. Zel didn't have very good dreams, often all he could tell them come morning was a vauge feeling of longing, and a need to keep looking for something. It annoyed Lina, who could remember so much, and so clearly. But she didn't press it. Zel stood by her, more than Ami did. He had believed her, even before the dreams, the dreams that had haunted all of them for the three weeks they had been in the dessert. Ami had realigned her belief quickly, as quickly as she surpassed the rest of them in the clarity of her images. She could tell them spells, words, effects. She could tell them events, could tell them situations and feelings. She dreamed like it was watching television, with her mental VCR turned to record. Looking at her now, Lina could tell Ami was also unsatisfied with Zel's dream. But she, too, said nothing, but watched him. Lina could feel her stomach turn. How could anyone, even Ami, look at Zel that way? Especially with his peeling skin, which was getting worse and worse. She frowned, frustrated by that. Zel's skin was going faster and faster, he had shown her the blue patches that were forming under it. He had told her about the panic that filled him, how he didn't sleep at night, how he felt like he was constantly running from something. And she sympathized with him, because she felt the panic too.  
  
She shuddered, feeling it grip at her, the fear, irresistible terror that had gripped her since they had come into the dessert. For some reason she felt like they were running out to ftime, but what clock was ticking down? She could almost hear the soft tick-tock as time slipped away, as the urgency increased, but she could not stop it. She had tried, ignoring it, running from it, but it followed her. So now she was cautious. She didn't let Zel or Amelia practice any big spells; she kept everything quiet. So quiet it was silent. But they couldn't hide forever. She, no, they were running out of time.  
  
The air hissed softly from his mouth, running between his teeth. Xellos was frustrated, and his body, his too human body was responding to it. He could feel the headaches before they came, could feel the pressure build up in his nose. He knew the tense feeling in his body, knew by now how his fingernails could dig holes in his palms when he clenched his hands. He knew what the humans complained about now, and he couldn't understand it. The pain was pleasant, it was a soft, buzzing reminder of his immortality, of the fact that even though his body might protest, he was a creature so beyond this world that he could survive any onslaught on this plain.  
  
So he left himself a brief smile, relishing the feeling of power his monstrosity. But then he turned his mind back to problem.  
  
Lina Inverse, in her equally annoying reincarnated form, and those little insects that followed her around constantly, were gone. Nothing. Nada. Zip. They didn't show up on the astral plain at all, there was no trace of their existence beyond the other pitiful other humans that swarmed like so many ants under the feet of superior beings, good only for a little torture before they were thrown away, worthless as dolls. But it made it so hard to find one, there were so many of them. Now that he actually wanted to find some, three of them, there seemed too many, and nowhere to begin.  
  
Which brought him back to the problem, he needed to find them. His mistress wished it. He had to find them, so that he and could use them to awaken the Master, and rank the highest with him in the new order that would dawn across the earth.  
  
Xellos hissed again, his mind retreating into the astral plain to continue the search.  
  
The pain was exquisite, soft and delicate, it reached out to him, jarring his conscious presence with sharp, blurring strokes. Phib grinned, he felt drunk with it, surrounded by it, he had become one with this pain that was an eternity. Smiling foolishly, he reached for the knife on the floor, where it had fallen when he had dropped it. He twisted it in his hands, so that it caught the light in every place where it wasn't caked with blood. His blood.  
  
Now holding it securely at the handle, he brought it down to his forearm again, and lightly started to draw, handling it like a pencil. Blood immediately welled up where he touched it, filling the trenches in his skin with crimson rivers that drip-dropped to the floor. He almost felt like laughing, watching its progress down his arm through clouded vision.  
  
He had discovered this way of feeding himself shortly after possessing this body. The feeling had immediately entranced him, never before had agony been so close, so personal, so wonderful before, in any of his existences. It filled him like no other suffering ever had. It was ecstasy.  
  
He grinned dizzily, squeezing his arm, making sharp bursts of hurt dance up his nerves, and into his brain. He felt the still-human part of it respond with emotions of pure anguish, and he felt his demon side devour them. He knew that he was pushing himself to the edge of fainting, that he was only holding to consciousness by a thread. He really shouldn't pass out, he thought, because that would put him out of action for a while, and he couldn't have that. Also, his 'mother' might find him and take him to the hospital, and then he might have to be taken to what humans called a shrink. Phib smiled. As if anyone on this plain could even touch him.  
  
Well, yes. One could. And that thought sent Phib glowering. As the most powerful Mazoku under Lord Ruby Eye, he enjoyed privileges that others didn't. And so he had been the first, though certainly not the last, to sense her presence in this world. He had, during one of his pain-clouded sessions, even seen her, the pale, childlike form she had taken, with stark, bright, red hair, and shining violet eyes. And some insensible part of him had been flattered, somehow, that they had chosen similar forms for possession. The rest of him, as he had decided to abandon the search for Lina Inverse and pursue, instead, this girl child, had been frightened.  
  
And it takes a lot to frighten Mazoku.  
  
Ami waited till Zel had finished his story, before she broke in with her own dream. While she waited, she fidgeted. His dreams were so boring and so abstract, they made her half-crazy. She hated having to sit through them, and hated herself for hating it. Mel, or Lina, or whoever she was did it, so why couldn't Ami? It made her so frustrated to pretend to be interested, as her mind wandered off to her own visions of the night before.  
  
She had seen herself, crouching, with Zelgadis behind her, wearing what she had come to be familiar with as the clothing of her past life. They had been speaking, a spell, a powerful spell that shook her mind. It was, undoubtedly, the most powerful spell she had ever remembered. She suspected, or hoped, that it was more powerful than the Dragon Slave, the spell that Mel had remembered on the beach that day. That would put Mel and Ami on equal footing, which Ami had been hoping for that since the night on the airplane, when she had been allowed to glimpse the friendship that Amelia had shared with Lina Inverse. Equal footing, after all, was the only situation in which friends could be born.  
  
Closing her eyes, briefly, she tried to recall the words . . . Ra Tilt . . .  
  
"Ra Tilt?"  
  
Zel looked up. "What was that, Ami?"  
  
She met his eyes, and for a moment, was Amelia again. "Ra Tilt", she spoke softly, but with the firmness that comes with certainty. "The Ra Tilt".  
  
Next to her, Lina stiffened. "What? What did you say?" The readhead's voice was low and dangerous.  
  
Confused, Ami turned to her. What was going on? "The Ra Tilt. It's a spell I just remembered." Why was Lina looking at her like that, her eyes glinting dangerously red in the sunlight, her mouth set in a angry glare.  
  
"Yeah", Zel said, quickly jumping in, trying to appease Lina, "I remember it too." He looked at Ami with fear in his eyes, not knowing what was going on with his best friend. Ami realized, with a quick fluttering in her heart, that he was afraid for her. She stared at him, lost in the depths of his too-blue eyes, feeling lightheaded and like she had sat up too quickly.  
  
It was probably this momentary hesitation that sent them all into temporary- hell.  
  
Lina grabbed her wrist in one, quick, painful moment, twisting it around and back and down. "Shut up." The words were quiet, and harsh and hissed between her teeth. Ami could have dealt with it if she had shouted, she could have dealt with it if Lina and screamed them. But the quietness was too much. It was the softness of death. "Shut up right now or I'll kill you. Don't touch that spell! Don't!!!" She wasn't shouting, not even yet, but there was quiet, fearful urgency in her voice.  
  
Zelgadis jumped to his feet. "Mel!" He shouted, grabbing Lina's hand which only made Ami's hurt worse. "Take your hands off her!!! She's not doing anything wrong!!"  
  
Lina looked frightened, let go, then she screamed "You've Damned Us ALL TO HELL!!!!!" Ami watched her disappearing back as it faded away.  
  
Zel turned to look at her, his face registering shock at the way Lina had acted. Ami couldn't blame him; she was shocked too. What could have caused her to act that way?  
  
Then she turned to Zel, realizing, in one moment, that he might actually be more impressed then Lina by the spell. For as long as she could remember, she had loved him, and now she could show him that she wasn't just some poor girl, she could show him that she was good too, that she could do spells, could remember them. A spell he had taught her. A spell he would want to know again.  
  
"Do you want to try it?" she asked, shyly, blushing and smiling.  
  
Zel looked at her, then smiled back. "Sure. Lets."  
  
Ami reached deep into her memory, into her brain, where the Ra Tilt waited, seductively powerful. Reaching out fingers of her soul, she touched it, and was overwhelmed by it. The one part of her mind that managed to keep separate of the strength running through her was shocked at the lack of words, but then that mind was touched, and she was nothing but the spell, the bright, beautiful spell.  
  
She held out her hands, feeling her mind running up and down the connection between this world and the world of spirits. Shudurring, she felt words come to her. Ra Tilt . . . Ra Tilt . . It streamed into her mind. She was barely aware of her physical body shouting "RA TILT!!!", barely aware of the stream of blue energy rushing from her finger tips, barely aware of anything, until she was aware that she was fainting.  
  
And the power was over.  
  
He felt it, it was there. They were finally showing themselves. Only for a second, a being on the astral plane raised itself far above the level of normal humans. For a brief moment, he was shaken with a powerful blue blast, a human spell. It could only be them.  
  
The mazoku Gaav, the demon dragon king leisurely stretched. This body, that of the famous detective Rex Draconis was hardly necessary any more, but he would keep it, for old times sake. After all, it resembled, at least a little bit, the body he had taken when he had appeared before Lina Inverse and her little friends in his previous life. She would recognize him. That was good. He wanted her to recognize him, wanted to reap fear and terror from her when she saw him, before he corrupted her.  
  
After all, when she was corrupted, she would never fear again.  
  
He stood, then walked hurriedly toward the front desk. He could not move this body through the plane it felt most natural in, or else he, and it, would die. This partial mortality was really starting to bother him.  
  
"Aaah, well" he said, softly to himself, "When the Lord is once again in command, I'm sure he will do something about that."  
  
But his self-engaged dependence on his body didn't really bother him that much. He had found them.  
  
A.N.: about the revision: according to ROBIN who is decidedly POOPY, Zel was acting out of character in this chapter. Which was actually true. But HEY, what's a poor girl to do? *sniff* SO, I rewrote it, at great personally expense (not really) and I wrote it and it was very disagreeable. . . . no, not really. Thanks a ton, Robin, u da best!!!!!!!! (Except when u tell me to revise my work!!!!!) 


	12. Part II Chapter 4

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Part II  
  
Chapter Four  
  
The spell left Zel's body, and ricocheted off into the distance, and he heard it land somewhere far ahead of him. Shuddering, he took a deep breath, released it, and took stock of his body. His legs felt weak. The power he had pulled out of the earth and up through them had been a little too much, they weren't used to it. He felt his thighs start to shake, and chewed his lower lip. His stomach hurt too, and breathing was becoming difficult. He took another breath, trying to slow his chest motions back to normal. It was then that he became aware of his hands.  
  
The pale, normal skin had been burnt away by the pure energy that had rested on them. Zel could see, through the tatters of what had been his hands, blue. Where there had been a large zit, on the back of one of his hands, there was something hard, and stony gray. He stared at it, stared at the hard material that now was dominant on his hands. With quivering blue fingers, he reached for a piece of flesh on his palm. Pinching it between his thumb and forefinger, he pulled.  
  
It peeled away like the bark peels off a tree.  
  
Behind it, there were long streaks of blue. Fascinated by the grotesqueness of it, he watched as it tore away from his forearm. Like some sort of sick disease, the cobalt color spread around his arms, up to his elbows, clearing all of what had been left of normality on his left arm.  
  
He heard a strangled gagging sound behind him, and turned to see a shaking figure with a mop of black hair gasping, her head near the ground. "Amelia!" he shouted, rushing toward her "What's wrong? Amelia! Are you okay?"  
  
She turned to look at him, her eyes wide with shock and pain. Somewhere in him, it hurt to see her like this. He put an arm around her, pulled her to a sitting position. "Amelia?" She blinked, blearily. He could tell, from the way she was looking at him that she didn't know him.  
  
"Wh-Where am I?" Her voice was shaky. He stared down at her, smelt the odor of regurgitated food on her, felt her body pressing against his arm, and suddenly, through her back, felt recognition come on. "Ze-Zel?" she blinked, and shook her head, a little dizzily. "We tried the spell, didn't we?"  
  
The warmth left his hand. She was sitting on her own again.  
  
"Yeah." He said, rocking back into a crouching position. "Yeah. We did."  
  
A scared voice interrupted their conversation. "You did?" Mel was standing over him. He stared up at her, his best friend since forever. Her hair, short and fuzzy and red, just the way he remembered it, was fuzzy around her head. Her eyes were brown and big, contemplative eyes. Poets eyes. Her skin was the same ivory tone he had known since he was five. But now, something about her looked so different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that he had lost some part of her, somehow.  
  
"Yeah. We did." He looked up at her, trying to tell her with his eyes that he was sorry, sorry to upset her like this.  
  
Ami, apparently, was having the same thoughts. "I'm sorry, Lina! I didn't mean to-I just wanted to-I really didn't--" Zel turned to look at her, suddenly, because he could hear her crying. Her large blue eyes were full, and shone like the sun on the sea. He reached out to comfort her, looked up at Mel, wordlessly asking her what to do.  
  
For a second, he was caught up in her eyes, which had become a sea of brown fear, anger, sadness, detachedness, and the despair that comes with not knowing what to do.  
  
It passed.  
  
Lina shook herself, looked up at the sky. Without moving her eyes, she spoke to him. "We have to get out of here. We have to move, and we have to do it fast."  
  
There was a man standing ahead of her, but his back was to her. She felt drawn to him, and approached. The only sound that she could hear was her own soft foot-falls. They rang harshly through the hall, echoing and distorting far in the distance. For a time, she concentrated on making them softer, but nothing diminished the only sound in the otherwise complete silence. It sounded like she was stomping loudly, instead of barely tapping her feet against the floor.  
  
Suddenly, she realized that she was coming no closer to the man ahead of her. It was as if they were both standing still. She walked faster, now keeping her eyes glued to his figure.  
  
The distance between them stayed the same.  
  
She started to run, her heavy footsteps now echoing loudly in the chamber, slamming against the walls and changing, till they started to sound like voices. "Filia . . . Filia . . . . Filia . . ."  
  
Angrilly, she shook her head. "NO!!!!" the sound was torn from her throat. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"  
  
The voices of her footfalls took on new form; their anger matched her own. "Filia! Filia!"  
  
"I HAVE TO GET TO HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
The voices suddenly lost their anger, and became soft again. So soft, in fact, that she started walking so that she could hear them better. The bare whisper finally reached her ears, and she froze in horror as their meaning became clear. ". . .no . .. use . . it's no use . .. no use . . Filia . . .it's no use. . ."  
  
"NO!!!" She screamed again, and started running, smashing her feet against the floor to drown out the sound. The voices also increased in volume, until she was aware of their steady undertone: "Filia. Stop. No use. It's no use, Filia. Stop. No use. It's no use. Filia."  
  
"STOP!!!" Her voice rose, panicked, and there was silence.  
  
The voices came again, this time recognizable. It was her mother. "Fiona, darling, please stop. There is no sense in this!!" Then, her the sound changed. It was still her mother's voice, only it sounded older now, more heavy. "Filia, darling, why? You are happy here, why become a temple maiden?"  
  
Now it was her father. "Fiona, what do you think you are doing? Do you think this will help anything? This past, it will do nothing for you! Don't confuse things! How will your old self bring you peace? Stop this at once!"  
  
"My old self," she whispered, "I don't understand."  
  
The room melted from around her, till she was surrounded by an infinity of blackness. Distantly, she heard a quiet rumble, that quickly shifted and changed, till it was loud, rucus, laughter. It seemed to be coming from . . above her?  
  
She looked up.  
  
And they were around her.  
  
Countless, faceless faces that swarmed in front of her face like so many masks. They were all laughing at her. Suddenly, one swam forward till it was facing her. Terrified, she watched as the face became attached to a neck, and the neck to a body, and the body to arms and legs. Then, looking back up at the face, she saw it had become Sabrina.  
  
"Fiona!" said her best friend, "I love Gaby!! I've always loved Gaby!! The only reason I've hung around you is to steal him, and now I have the chance I need!! I don't want to be near you, anymore, Fiona!! I don't want to be near you!! I hate you Fi!! HATE YOU!!!"  
  
"hate you . . hate you . . ." the words rang in her ears, blending with the laughter, till a million voices she new seemed to screech at her "WE HATE YOU!!!!"  
  
She looked down at her feet, the thousands of faces below her disappearing in her tears. Desperately, she tried to hold them back, but they slipped out, and started to stream down her face. As the first tear disconnected with her cheek and fell toward the floor, one voice from her past screamed out at her. "Look, we made the little wimp cry!"  
  
The scene materialized before her, clear as day:  
  
The young girl that was Fiona Drygoon smiled happily at her dolls, immersed in her play. Unbeknownst to her, several dark shapes approached her back, Nash Pleasent, the school bully, and some of his friends. "Hey, guys, look!"  
  
Little Fiona looked up, and fear appeared on her face. "Wha-whaddu you want?"  
  
Nash leered down at her. "Hey there, little twerp! We heard that you cried yesterday when your widdle mommy was leaving? What kind of wimp cries when their mom leaves?" he turned to his friends and said, in a high, whiney voice "Mommy! Mommy! Don't leave me alone, mommy! Don't leave me, Moooommmmmmmmmyyy!" he stretched the last word out impossibly long, sliding his pitch around to make it maximally mocking.  
  
"Shu-shut up!" little Fi said, glaring up at them, feeling tears well up behind her eyes.  
  
"Oh, look, guys, we made the little wimp cry!" Nash's followers snickered. "Listen, kid" the bigger child said, putting his face close to hers "let me tell you something. Your mom is gone. So's your dad, and your grandma and everyone else. The office just called for you, and they said over the microphone that your parents had said that they simply wanted to tell you that they would never be coming back. Ever. They said to tell you that they hate you. You got that kid?" he said, grinning cruelly down at the sobbing little girl. "They're all gone." She remembered that day well. Nash had been punished severely for exaggerating a simple call to tell her that she should ride the bus home that day because her parents had to work late into that kind of scary story. But the damage had been done. It was that day that she had gotten her painful phobia of being left alone.  
  
Now she turned to the faces again, sensing that it was their fault. "SHUT THE FUCk UP!!!!!!!!!", she shrieked, so loud that she couldn't even hear herself.  
  
Immediately, all the faces disappeared, and she was in the hall again, the old man standing near her. Cautiously, she tried walking. To her great relief, she moved.  
  
Eagerly, though she didn't know what she was so eager for, she ran the rest of the distance. The man was right next to her now, and she saw more than the back of his head, saw his smiling old face worn with many lines and his twinkling blue eyes. And she knew who he was.  
  
(A.N.: SANTA!!! Okay, just kidding, on with the story.)  
  
"Elder" she spoke, simply. The word didn't need much elaboration. They both knew what she meant.  
  
"My child."  
  
And with that, and a great gasp of air, Filia Ul Copt woke to her bed in a world far different form what she remembered.  
  
"Gaav."  
  
The other being, standing close to him on the spiritual plane, smiled. "Phibrizzo. Hello, it's nice to see you." Chairs suddenly appeared, conjured, no doubt, by his redheaded counterpart. "Have a seat."  
  
"Thank you", he said, lowing himself into the folds of a deep, black armchair. Gaav remained standing. Yes, that's right, Phibrizzo thought, he likes the idea of physical intimidation. There was scorn in the voice of his mind. "May I ask to what I owe this" he paused, for a millisecond "extreme honor?"  
  
"Come, come!" Gaav responded, lightly hitting him on the back. "No need for coldness among friends! Fine. I'll tell you. I have called you here in response to a demand another of our number made to me." He turned around. "DYNAST!! Come on out!!"  
  
Slowly, out of the darkness, the third most powerful mazoku next to Shabrinigdo appeared. "Gaav, Phibrizo. I have called you both here to discuss a plan of action."  
  
"Do tell" Phibrizzo replied, smiling.  
  
Dynast smiled back, his expression seeming more strained. "Yes. Well. You must know what this plan conerns."  
  
Gaav was the one who answered. "That Lina Inverse Bitch. So you two found her as well?"  
  
There was no need for a reply. Dynast continued. "She and her friends are in the western part of the country we are all in. We need her. I have come up with a way to get her totally, completely on our side."  
  
"Oh?" Gaav said, raising an eyebrow. "And how is that?"  
  
"By defeating her."  
  
Now Gaav laughed. "Dynast, did you not completely remember all of our past life? We TRIED defeating her before! Phibrizzo here tried, I did, hell, even the bloody dragons tried! No one had any luck! No One!! She's not going to be caught that way. "  
  
"You forget, Gaav, that there was some person that she needed help to conquer. But then, you would forget" Dynast said, noting the confused expression on the Dragon King's face. "You were left out of that particular venture. As I remember, it was because of that that you defected."  
  
Gaav was blushing, Phibrizzo noticed with amusement. Dynast continued. "But you must recall the being that almost defeated her, and he at only a fraction of his full power. Come come! You of course have realized how I mean by now."  
  
And Phibrizzo smiled, brilliantly, and started to laugh. Gaav stared at him for a short time, before he, too, comprehended. Then a slow smile oozed across his face.  
  
"Do you know where he is?" Phib asked, still grinning.  
  
"Yes." Dynast rejoined. "I do. He is in the same place as before, only now it is all of him, instead of just part."  
  
Gaav looked thunderstruck. "ALL? But how could the human carry all of it."  
  
"He was not awoken when we were. Actually, he was awakened by Lina herself, several weeks ago. The human is struggling with him, I believe now he is ill."  
  
Annoyed at this pointless conversation, Phib spoke again. "Can you corrupt him again?"  
  
Dynast grinned, a cheshire cat smile. "Yes, I do believe so."  
  
"Good. Now, I will assume control of this operation."  
  
The other mazoku gaped at him. The young, black-haired Dynast was the first to get his voice back. "But-It was my idea!"  
  
Phibrizzo smiled in a sickening way. "Aaah, but am I not the most powerful of us?"  
  
"But-But-"  
  
"Answer the question."  
  
Seeing the dangerous glint in the smaller-bodied mazoku's eyes, Dynast gulped and spoke. "Yes."  
  
Phib clapped his hands together with false cheer. "Good then! We'd better start right away! Dynast, you are in charge of gaining control of the human host, and presenting him with this." With a swish of his hand, the child- monster held out a figure that looked a lot like a Christian idol, a holy virgin named Mary. The figure's hands were clasped, and her long hair hung free. Dynast smirked and reached out for it. Phib pulled it away. "Ah-ah- ah" he shook a figure at the other mazoku. "Give us a month. We must get all the players situated. Gaav" he said, turning to his subject. "I want you to distract Lina and her companions. Keep them busy, but for god's sake do not kill them! We still need her, remember! Control yourself. Now, be off!" he made a shooing motion with his hands.  
  
Gaav looked angry. "I'm sorry, fearless leader" he growled "but I don't remember you mentioning anything for YOU to do!"  
  
"Who, me?" Phib smiled again. "I will continue my search for a-being-that has occupied my attention for, oh, some time now. We will meet again in three of their pathetic earth weeks. Go!"  
  
In a flash of purple and red light, they were gone.  
  
Phibrizzo sat back in the chair and smirked nastily. Then, he started to laugh, at first soft, then louder and louder.  
  
The final pieces were falling into place. He knew that in a month, he would solve this little puzzle, and then he and his race would posses control of the entire earth.  
  
A.N.: What did you think?? I thought it was one of the best so far!!!! Wheee!!! I finished it!!!!!!! Yipee!!! Okay: about Filia's dream. Has anyone seen Reboot? Well, it played on Cartoon Network a Looooong time ago. The freaky lady who wore those masks, in season two, do you all remember her? Well, her mask was how I pictured those 'faceless faces': for those that didn't see it and need a visual: picture those masks that are designed to be nothing more than a face, with holes cut for the eyes and everything. Okay, those, with no face behind them, are the 'faceless faces'. And they continue forever above and beneath her. Oh, and Phib's laughter, at the very end, think of in Gundam Wing early in the first episode when Heero destroys those mobile suits and then does the creepy laugh thingy: that's how I picture/hear phib's voice. Okay, are we all cool? Great. I'm open for any questions or comments!! Just review. And if you really want to talk to me, heaven knows why, you can email me. I changed my address!! Yippeeee!! ^_^ I'm now hotaru79@msn.com!!! YAY. Okay, umm . . . well, that's about it. Review, please!!! See you next time on  
  
Dun da da dun  
  
Slayers Resurrection  
  
~Divine Firefly 


	13. Part II Chapter 5

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Part II  
  
Chapter Five  
  
In the past three days, Lina had grown to hate sand. Before, when she lived near the ocean and every summer would be spent on the fine white fields of sand on the beach, she had actually enjoyed the stuff, enjoyed rubbing herself with it, enjoyed feeling the waves wash it away from her, enjoyed walking back to the car with encrusted feet, loved the way it felt beneath her toes. But that mindset seemed hopelessly lost to her now. Sand was no longer a luxury associated with pleasant warmth and days near water, oh no. Now, in her mind, sand had become part of 30-degree winds blowing in her face, thick with topsoil, gravel and hard dirt that wore away the skin on her cheekbones. Sand was the little rivers of mud that would run down her back when she sweated under the layers of clothing she wore to protect herself from the cold winter weather of New Mexico. Sand was the cupfuls of pebbles that she poured out of her shoes each night. Sand was the little cushions of earth that collected in her socks each night. Sand was squinting in order to peer out at the brown whirlwind in front of her. Sand was holder her hands before her face to shield herself from the wind. Sand was in her hair, in her eyes, on her skin, it was everywhere and it was everywhere all the time.  
  
She stopped walking and turned around. Immediately, when the wind was at her back, she felt the relentless push of it, blowing her jacket tight around her body and her short hair into her eyes. With one hand, she did her best to restrain her hair, and the other she cupped around her mouth and shouted back to the two shadowy figures that were Zel and Amelia. Her throat, raw from shouting almost constantly ever since the windstorm started three days ago, (just after that fateful day when Amelia had cast the Ra Til) at first refused to make any coherent noise. Finally, though, she was able to call "HEY!!"  
  
She saw the vague outlines of Zel and Amelia pause and saw Zel form a makeshift megaphone around his mouth just as she had. Barely, she could hear his response, but because of the howling of the wind, she could not understand it. Frustrated, she motioned him to come closer. He turned and, putting his mouth very close to Amelia's ear, spoke to the other girl. Then, putting his weight against the gale, he pushed himself forward. It took him five minutes to get close enough to her that they could shout to each other over the whistling noise of the gust blowing through the trees. He put his mouth near her ear and managed to say "What is it?" in something close to normal speaking volume.  
  
"We're getting close", was her answer, when they had both turned their heads so that he could hear her.  
  
"Close to where?"  
  
"To where we're going." He raised his eyebrows at her. "Walk with me", she said, noticing that Amelia was catching up, and she didn't want to bother with speaking to her right now. A one-to-one conversation was hard enough was it was. They both turned and started moving along the dirt road again. (Why, oh why did they have to have, of all things, DIRT roads in a country that was already plagued with so much dust??)  
  
"So where are we going again?" Zel asked, casually peeling at the remains of normal skin on his right arm to reveal more hard, blue rock, the stuff that was all over his body. She remembered it now, after seeing it, and remembered the old Zelgadis's thirst for a cure. She remembered, and it puzzled her, because now Zel seemed to want more of it. Personally, she thought it was gross.  
  
Now, seeing him pull it away, she wretched, which led sand to coat the inside of her mouth, which made her pause to cough it up. When at last she had turned around, she was angry. "Why do you have to do that in front of me?? It's nasty!"  
  
"Why?" he asked, platonically, baring more of the blue stone and flicking the large strip of flesh into the wind. Lina glared at him. Noticing, he explained: "Skin gets irritated by sand. Stone doesn't." Then he continued peeling as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Where are we going, by the way?"  
  
With relief, Lina noticed that the wind had slackened, and now they could speak with out the complicated head motions. Even still, she took her time answering. She hadn't told either him or Amelia their destination for days, partly because she hadn't decided and, when she had, she hadn't wanted them to think that she was running away from the danger they all knew was stalking them. And the shelter she had chosen for them was just that-a shelter. Zel would recognize it for what it was, even if Amelia didn't. And he would realize along with that knowledge that she was running from what Amelia had caused.  
  
And this would lower his esteem of her even more, because none of them knew, precisely, what it was that was pursuing them. They knew it was there, on their trail, tracking them down, and Lina assumed that it was a mazoku, and they all knew that they had encountered it before this particular life, but no specifics. She could remember none of her dreams lately, but all left her with a sense of hopelessness that she knew she didn't want to have that ever happen again. In the back of her mind, she suspected that whatever it was that was following them, she had failed to defeat it before, and she never wanted that to happen again.  
  
"Lina?" She was called out of her thought's by Zel's voice, and realized that in all her thinking she had stopped walking. Hurriedly, she caught up with him, but not before turning to check on Amelia. The slightly smaller girl looked to be okay, if rather put out that Zel and Lina were leaving her out of important decision making and discussion, so Lina was free to turn to the young man beside her.  
  
"We're going-to my grandmother's house."  
  
Sabrina woke up early, as she did every morning, even on Saturdays. This particular weekend, she was up before the sun, and in the clear blue light of winter mornings, she showered, dressed herself and started the stairs to begin breakfast, still toweling her hair. All of her family members were usually asleep at this time, which was why it surprised her to find Phib sitting at the table, his legs folded under him, his hands clasped below his chin, obviously deep in thought. Determined not to disturb him, but annoyed to have him spoil her lovely morning, she went about pulling eggs, cinnamon and milk off their respective shelves; today felt like a French toast morning.  
  
She purposely made noise, more noise than usual, while beating the ingredients together. She clanked the forks together in the silverware drawer, then decided that she wanted a whisk instead and went over to get it, taking care to stomp and clank the various things that were stored with it. When pulling a plate and bowl from the shelf, she actually dropped one of the plates on top of the other, causing a large clatter that rang through the silent house.  
  
Immediately she was ashamed that she would let her brother, her own brother that she loved, bother her so much. It was just that, ever since he had changed three years ago, he had put her nerves on edge. Of course, they had always been different, but not wildly. He was a sweet, outgoing little boy, with thick, curly black hair. Or, at least, he had been. Until he went to middle school, he made friends with everyone, and every person that met him couldn't help but love him. In fact, their parents would lie awake at night and ask why their daughter couldn't be more like little Phib, back then Sabrina hadn't had many friends and had been solitary and somewhat anti- social. That had all changed on Halloween of the year she started ninth grade. She had met and befriended Fiona Drygoon, and her brother had . . . changed.  
  
Now, instead of the unfailing love that they had once had, there was a false calm that allowed them to tolerate each other. They spoke no less than was absolutely necessary. Still, Sabrina tried to be nice to him. It was the least she could do.  
  
An hour later, when her parents came down the stairs, they were greeted by the smell of frying bacon, French toast neatly laid out on the table for them, and their son, sitting peering off into space.  
  
"Why, Sabrina, this is a pleasant surprise! Thank you so much!" Her mother's sweet-as-honey voice was the first to break the silence that had dominated their house.  
  
"It all looks terrific!" her father intoned, not to let his wife out-do him in cheerful enthusiasm.  
  
Sabrina sighed. Yeah, mom, some surprise. It's not like I don't make breakfast for you every morning on the weekends. Your welcome. Father, you know, it looks just like French toast always does. But she didn't voice her somewhat-less-than-nice thoughts. Instead, she smiled her thanks and sat down to eat.  
  
"You know, mother, it is as surprising as it is pleasant. Sabrina cooks breakfast for us every morning, and anyway, it mostly tastes like crap. Excuse the expression, sister dear. Father, if I may comment, it does not look terrific, it looks mostly like French toast usually does. But enjoy, by all means. I think I am going up to my room." And with that little speech, which basically filled his talking quota for the week, Phib stood up from the table and left his gaping parents looking after him.  
  
There was a moment's pause. Then breakfast continued as usual.  
  
Lazily aware of the cool yellow light that was spreading through the room behind her eyelids, Fillia spread her arms above her head, now, more than ever, grateful to the luxury of extra time in the morning at the Dragon Temple. When she used to live with her parents at the nesting grounds, it was up at dawn and straight to work. There were patrols to completed, envoys to be sent out, eggs and young to be tended, and, of course, food to be caught, rooms to be cleaned and laundry to be done. Those menial tasks had always seemed, to her, so stupid, so insignificant. After all, dragons controlled the earth, represented all that was good and fair in the world. Why, then, did they have to do their own laundry? Cook their own food? Clean their own rooms? The tasks her race had been created for were far nobler, far more wondrous.  
  
Now, living in the temple, she was able to reach what her species had been promised when they had been created by the Gods. She was able to serve the wishes of the Divine Beings, under the leadership of the Elder. There was, of course, a lot to do, but the days started later. So it was a full fifteen minutes after she woke from her somewhat-troubled sleep before she opened her eyes.  
  
There was a second's pause before what she saw registered with her. There was another second of mind numbing fear. Then, she screamed.  
  
"Now, now, Fillia, there is no reason to be so loud!"  
  
Fillia's teeth ground at the sound of that voice. Her back stiffened, her mucles tightened. Anger apparent in every line of her appearance, she sat up, to face a smug, purple haired young man, who was floating three feet above the floor in a sitting position, holding a curious staff. She did not recognize him, at first, but she knew him immediately to be what he was. "Mazoku" the word was a hissed breath of air between her clenched teeth.  
  
The monster inclined his head, as if he was receiving a compliment and didn't want to seem too conceited.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" she demanded, glaring. Then, she looked around again. "Where is here? What am I doing here? How did I get here?" The obvious conclusion hit her before he could open his mouth to respond. "You! You brought me here, didn't you?"  
  
He sighed, and looked up at her through cat eyes. Eyes like a cat, she thought, closed in self-pleased contentment. Fillia had never cared much for cats.  
  
"Well, first things first. I did not bring you here. I believe it was, instead, your precious Elder who made you . .ah . . awake" at her puzzled look, he continued "into this room. As to why you are here, I do not doubt that it is a project so holy that I cannot even comprehend it. This room is in a house that is in a city near the ocean in a country that you are not familiar with. And, as far as why I am here, that-" Fillia inhaled in expectation "is a secret."  
  
There was a second of calm, rather like the ocean before a typhoon.  
  
Then, the golden dragon was out of bed, had grabbed a long object from her bedside table (in actuality a lamp) and started beating the dirty mazoku with it. "You" smack "will" smack "tell me who you are!" smack smack smack. He lifted his hands in defense, but that did nothing to block the flow of her tirade. "You will tell my why" smack smack "you are here!" smack smack. "You will tell me everything you know, and if you do not, then I will kill you, you dirty, stinking pile of rotten garbage!!" She accented the last ten or so words with another hit with her weapon, before she realized that she was hitting air; the man had moved from under her.  
  
"Over here, Fillia." She looked over, and saw him sitting in his former position on her bed. ("Get off of there you--") He interrupted her angry words. "I will tell you what I am able, after all, I did come here to ask for your help." She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to stop her. "My name is Xelloss" she drew in her breath again, this, then was the general of the Beast Master, who had killed a thousand of her kind with one finger in the wars. "I see that you know me. As I said, I am here to ask for your help. Everything I know would, undoubtedly, disgust you and not be of much interest or use anyway. Before we continue this little . .ah . . chat, I have one request. Please, Fillia, act with the dignity attributed to your race. I do not want to be attacked again, or else I might have to use" he looked down at his staff "drastic measures and that would be unpleasant for you, and make this whole visit a waste of time for me."  
  
She opened her mouth to ask him what he wanted her help with, before he hurriedly continued. "Well, maybe not a complete waste of time but I'm sure you wouldn't want to know how much pleasure torturing you would bring me." In response to his jibe about dignity, she closed her eyes, reopened them, and then continued as if nothing had happened.  
  
"What was it that you wanted my help with again?" "Very proper, Fillia. Very smooth. Actually, I need you to fly me somewhere." Noticing the angry look on her face, Xelloss again held up his hand to still her. "I can't go myself, if that is what you were about to ask. It's across the country, and I couldn't fly that long. As to teleporting, the body I am currently can't transfer to the spiritual plane."  
  
Here she interrupted him. "The body you're using? What? I thought that you dirty mazoku were made up of energy that was purely grounded on the spiritual plane!"  
  
"Yeah, well, things change. At any rate, I need you to fly me somewhere."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"It's southwest of here. In a desert-y place. I know how to get there."  
  
"Why? What's in it for me?"  
  
"Well, actually, one of the people that I will monitor in this desert knows your elder, and can take you to him once I've arrived there."  
  
Here Fillia felt, for the first time, relief. Since she had awoken, the knowledge that she had no idea not only where she was, but where the person most important to her cause, and thereby to her, was. The elder, she knew, had sent her here for some reason, but she did not know what. And, what was worse, she didn't know how to contact him. When the mazoku had appeared, she had distracted herself with her hate for him. The fear, however, had remained, lurking in her subconscious. Knowing that she could see him again, ask him why she was here, what she was supposed to do, brought her relief, sweet, pure relief. It was joy.  
  
She laughed, feeling her chest mucles release, throwing her head back, letting her thought subside and her sudden relaxation take over her. When tears began to gather at the sides of her eyes, she didn't care, just laughed harder. The display of emotion didn't last long, but she enjoyed it as long as it did.  
  
When she had finished, she sat up in bed, still giggling soflty and wiping tears from her eyes. Her cheeks ached from smiling so hard and her stomach hurt from laughing. Facing Xellos, at last, she caught a scowl on his face before he replaced it with his normal, pleasant smile. "So, did you come to a decision though that display?" One eyebrow raised questioningly. She felt like smacking it off his face, but was too tired.  
  
"I'll take you wherever it is you want to go, mazoku."  
  
"My Lady." He knelt, acknowledging the tall, graceful woman in front of him with a slight inclination of his head. He could feel her eyes burning into his head, could feel her assessing him, answering the questions she was about to ask. Finally, he heard the soft clink as her wine glass touched the table she was standing next to.  
  
"You may rise." Xellos stood, looking at the Beast Master, his creator and lady. Xellas watched him, one elegant eyebrow raised. "Tell me."  
  
"I went to the dragon, as per your orders" he began, feeling her eyes on him again. Determinedly, he stared at her wrist, watching the graceful bracelets fall together with clinking motions as she moved her hand. "She did not remember this life, only the one she led in the First World. I did not enlighten her." He felt a soft smile cross his Mistress's face. "I told her that her Elder had brought her there on some mission. That satisfied her curiosity. I also told her who I was, and why I had come. She was not particularly inclined to fly me there, but eventually she agreed, when I told her that one of them knew her elder and could lead her there. She will take me as soon as I need to go."  
  
"Good" came the soft murmur, and Xellos felt the thrill that always accompanied Her praise. "Now remember, when you get there, you are not to interfere. I only want to know what it is Phibrizzo and those little pawns Gaav and Dynast are up to. I want also to know what the enemy are doing. And when she takes you back, you remember your orders?"  
  
"Yes. I am to follow the former shrine maiden Fillia Ul Copt to her Elder and destroy him, eliminating main force of the dragons from the upcoming struggle."  
  
"Very good, but it is only what I expect of you, my Trickster." She turned from him, and he heard a soft hiss as she lit her pipe. Looking up, he saw gray smoke billow around the back of her head. "You may leave immediately. Report to me as often as possible."  
  
"Yes, my lady."  
  
Xellos left then, casted a flying spell and rose into the clouds and quickly tracing the quickest past back to Fillia's house.  
  
The wind had abated, somewhat, and Amelia had caught up with Lina and Zel. She had missed most of their conversation, but was able to catch the very end, Zel saying "Why are we going there?"  
  
"Because, it's safe. And we need money, to fly back. I don't know if you remember, but then the mazoku could appear wherever they wanted whenever they wanted. What's to stop them from coming here immediately? We have to leave fast. I expected an attack the day we started moving. We might of lost them but--" she cut off, noticing Ami for the first time. "Hi Amel- Ami."  
  
"Hi." She fell into step next to them, rejoicing that there was no longer any reason to wear her shirt over her mouth, the dust storm seemed to be over. Peeling the makeshift bandana from her face, she looked at the redhead to her right. "Miss Mel-ah, Lina, I was wondering where we were going, and if you could tell" she trailed off, stoping along with her companions.  
  
Up ahead of them on the barren road, a road on which she had seen no vehicles of any kind for the past three days, a road that had been completely empty save for them for the past three days, up ahead on that road was a could of dust unmistakably left by some kind of automobile. The three of them stood stalk still, staring at it as it drew nearer and nearer and nearer, until it had pulled to a stop next to them. It was, indeed, a car. A nondescript white car, seats four, with the little Amelia knew about cars she thought it might be BMW.  
  
The driver's door swung open. Mel tensed next to her, and she felt Zel readiying a spell. Amelia herself reached within herself for the power for an Almechia Lance. Someone appeared out of the car. A woman, an old woman, with short white hair that was pulled back in a headband. Her face looked like wax that had melted and was dripping down her scull. Her neck was more wrinkled than Amelia's clothes after three days of wearing them and sleeping in them. She was wearing a blue down coat and blue plaid pants and ski boots. Her hands were covered in white gloves and she was smiling. "Hello there" her voice was as ancient as she was.  
  
"Who are you?" Zel demanded, glaring at her.  
  
"Yeah, tell us!" Amelia said, a green ball of light forming between her hands. "Or else I'll blast you!"  
  
"Grandma?" Lina's voice was full of wonder. Ami was so shocked she dropped her spell and it evaporated.  
  
"Hello darling! I've been expecting you three. Come on in!"  
  
Lina turned to the rest of them. Amelia was surprised to see her smiling. "You guys, this is my Grandma, Aquamarine Rivers. You can call her Auntie Aqua."  
  
A.N.: What did you all think?? Haha!! Yes!! Plot's moving!! Yeah!! Okay, there are actual reasons why it's taken me so long to post. Seriously. I was on vacation, and then I was at home but was struck down with a case of terminal laziness. But I finally am putting this up, and I made it nice and long for all of you. Part II is coming to a close, it'll be over pretty soon now. Don't expect the next one to come so soon. And I definitely am not taking this in Xel/Fillia directions, if anyone was wondering. No! Bleh. I do not like that paring. (Sorry to all you X/F fans.) I'd love some more reviews!!!!!!!! (As in more than one!) Thanks so much to Nel for continuing to read this fanfic. I appreciate it.  
  
Hope you enjoyed it!  
  
Divine Firefly. 


	14. Part II Chapter 6

Slayers Ressurection  
  
Part II  
  
Chapter Six  
  
The steeply changing landscape of the desert, dyed yellow with sun burnt grass and spotted with the deep green of pinion trees, stretched out before him till it met the mountains and disappeared into the sky. Here and there, birds danced through the air, now swooping low to the ground, now soaring until they were lost in blue. Some perched on fence posts and sat, twittering, cocking their heads in confusion as they stared at the giant red man next to them. The intruder was sitting on one of the jutting, old pieces of wood that served to hold the barbed wire together, his hands clasped around one knee, his eyes drawn together, considering. The birds, jays, mostly, watched him beadily, moving their heads jerkily, as if to see him better. Some particularly daring specimens moved closer and fluttered around his head, but he paid them no heed. They were of no consequence to him or to his mission.  
  
Gaav snorted. His mission. How archaic of him! This was not a mission, nor was it a fight, nor a cause for which to fight. It was a power struggle, and it was dirty. He could feel it's contamination in his . . . soul? Did he have such a thing as a soul? Could he be contaminated by this war that he and his race were engaged in? Was he worrying for nothing?  
  
"If I can't be polluted by it, why does it bother me so?" he asked the air, vehemence in his voice. The birds nearest him scattered, screeching anxiously.  
  
The answer was there, of course, waiting for him even as he spoke his query. It bothered him because he was always the one to be bothered by these things. Of all the five mazoku lords, he was the one who cared about such trivial stuff as these human feelings. He was the one to hire mistresses for his own pleasure, and to keep them. He was the one who attached importance to those who served him. He was the one who mourned.  
  
Now there was nothing to mourn. Everything he ever remembered happening had been erased, in one foul movement, and he couldn't even recall most of it now. Some of it came back to him, fragmented pieces of the past, memories from dreams that stayed in his conscious mind. It was almost as if his human body could not contemplate something that was so much greater than itself. He sighed, and leaned back onto his uncomfortable post.  
  
Ah, yes, his body. That brought him back to the heart of the problem. This body was undermining him. He could see the past, could feel again the rush of power as he transferred his mind and re-created his physical manifestation. He could again see the energy flowing from his hands and pouring into the mortals, mortals that immediately ceased their meaningless lives at a taste of his might. All that was gone, and so, it seemed, was his chance of survival.  
  
He smiled at the irony of it. But an age ago, he could have taken on this Inverse bitch and defeated her as easily as he moved between the plain of physical reality and spiritual reality. Now, he was not only worried, but frightened of the outcome of their upcoming battle. She had, in her time of regaining her memory, recalled more spells, more of her former power than any of his fellow mazoku had in three years. She was by far one of the most potent beings in the time. The plan that Dynast and Phibrizo had come up with was clever, certainly, but it lacked the surety that Gaav would have liked when dealing with such a dangerous sorceress.  
  
Had she not already proven that she had a clear grasp of spells that called on the Ruby Eyed Lord? Who was to say that she could not remember spells that used power from the Sea of Nightmares? Who was to say that she would not destroy him in a single, devastating blow? He still had some of his power, true, but with his mind so wrapped up in this body, how could anyone be sure of what would happen to him if it ceased to be? His mind, he felt sure, would survive, but, similar to the problem with phazing, how could anyone be positive that it would not be reduced to floating, thinking matter in the sea of the supernatural? He, Gaav, would be taken entirely out of this power struggle, and that did not please him at all.  
  
Angry at the depressing turn his thoughts were taking, he leaped off his fence post. Holding his hands in front of him, he screamed "FIRE BALL!!" and sent a twisting mass of flame to engulf a nearby tree. A small smirk crossed his face as the tree exploded into a blaze that spread on the dry grass quickly. He was soon surrounded by a raging inferno.  
  
Thick smoke started to rise, high into the air. Gaav's smirk widened.  
  
"Yes" he said, to himself, satisfied. "She will see that and be drawn to it. Come to me, spell-daughter. We have a hell to raise!"  
  
The first thing that she had felt, the overwhelming, emotion dulling, thought dulling thing she had felt first had been relief. Seeing her grandmother had brought it into focus, clear as day, in her mind. This was out of her hands. Completely. This matter of running and hiding from the terrible, oppressive burden she had been carrying for the past three days, it wasn't hers anymore. From the moment that she had seen her Grandmother standing there, smiling at her, she had known, with every particle of her being, that she didn't have worry about Zel's and Amelia's safety anymore. She didn't have to worry about anything, ever again.  
  
This sense of whole unconnected-ness, this giddy lack of responsibility lasted her through the car ride to her grandmother's house. Through the journey, she and Grandma Rivers were the only ones talking, Zel and Ami seemed to be in shock. Once or twice, she tried to draw them into the conversation, but they just sat there and stared at her. So, giving them up for a lost cause, she and her grandmother had discussed what their lives had been like for the past thirteen years.  
  
Mel was at once overjoyed and flattered at the attention she was receiving. She couldn't remember anyone other than her parents asking her questions like this, and even with them it was the basic 'how was school?' when she got off the bus, and 'oh, good' when she had summarized her day in a sentence. Never before had anyone poured so much attention into her, seemed so genuinely interested in the answers that she gave. And then, when she got to a few months ago, and the questioning intensified, Mel almost wanted to laugh with triumph. Finally, someone asking her about it! Someone who wanted to know how she felt when her world was upside down!  
  
It was amazing to her, after sitting in the car for five minutes, that no one had wondered about this before. Wasn't it just a bit amazing that Zel, who called himself her best friend, had barely even noticed when she had disappeared for three weeks? And then when she appeared again on the beach and used powerful magic that he couldn't even control back when he had magic, shouldn't he have asked about it? He had had more than enough time to do so in the weeks that they had been walking together in the desert. He just had never put in enough effort.  
  
Now, that's not true, the reasonable part of her said, quietly. It's not like you gave him much incentive to ask. And even if he had asked, another, even more reasonable part said, you probably wouldn't have answered him. Mel stopped listening to her inner reason and listened again to the soothing, old voice of her grandmother.  
  
"You've grown up so much, dear, since I saw you last! How old were you then? Seven?"  
  
She smiled at the memory. At the time, she had seen her grandma as a snob, who couldn't be troubled to look into her life. How wrong she had been! This woman was one of the most caring, loving people she had ever met. "I was seven. And yes, I remember."  
  
"Good. That was so much fun, and you and your sister were so cute! I remember how you used to play with that little rouge, Zelgadis." She smiled into the rearview mirror, a clear invitation for Zel to say something. When he remained passive and silent, she continued. "And that beautiful princess, Fiona. You three were so cute together. It would have been so much cuter if little Ami was older, then the four of you could have had such adventures!" She beamed fondly and wiped at a tear.  
  
Mel, however, had tensed next to her. This innocent speech of her grandmother's was the first chink in her perfect armor of relief. She felt her muscles tighten and her body go rigid, and worked her jaw silently. She longed to reply, longed to say something that would make this untruth go away. Finally, she got her mouth back under control. "Grandma" she said, hoping against hope that the old woman's reply would be able to explain everything away, "I didn't play with Zelgadis when I was seven. I didn't even know him. I met him when I was in sixth grade."  
  
The lady sitting next to her looked startled for a moment, then a very unpleasant expression crossed her face. It was there and gone in a second, but it made Mel nervous. People, especial her wonderful grandmother shouldn't try to hide expressions like that. It made her think that they were concealing something. But then the older woman was speaking again, and she felt her doubt wash away. Well, most of it.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry! The ramblings of an old woman" Mel forced a grin, hoping that the other would stop here and giver her no more reason to mistrust. "I must have mistaken him for that other little boy you used to play with! What was his name, Gordon?"  
  
If Mel had tensed before, now she froze. She did not even bother to correct her grandmother, but stared blankly out the window, her teeth clenched. The desert whirred past. She stared for a long time at a large dark blob on the horizon without realizing what it was, working her teeth and feeling her relief slip away.  
  
"Hey, isn't that smoke?"  
  
Zel's quietly persistent voice broke her completely from her reverie. Blinking the boredom from her eyes, she looked out the window and gaped. A thick, heavy black splotch of smoke was hanging against the mountains, steadily growing and shifting, even as she watched it became rose till it was a clear beacon against the day.  
  
She turned to Zel, her eyes wide, and nodded. He stared at her, hard, with an unreadable mask on, for a moment, and Ami felt her nerve tighten. She was sick of being the whimpering, whining, trouble causer. She was sick of people looking her with expressions of mixed pity and frustration. She was sick of it!  
  
"That's fire." Lina's voice, this time, sounded harshly in her ears. Ami stared at the back of the seat in front of her. The old woman surely would have heard Lina and Zel, she should stop, or at least look!  
  
Ami cleared her throat, delicately. "Um, excuse me, Miss Aqua, but I don't think you heard right. There's a fire right over there." She fighting to stay calm, fighting to keep a hold over that ladylike composure that she so prided herself on. "You did hear, didn't you?"  
  
Silence. It shocked Ami at first, she had seemed like such a nice lady. Then, as the minutes dragged by, she started to fidget. She could feel Zel watching her, but did not feel like turning around to face him. She finally cleared her throat, a little more loudly this time, to try and speak to her again. Maybe the poor thing was a little deaf.  
  
"I heard" came a gruff voice, just as Ami was about to embark. She stopped, startled. The head in front of her turned to the right to look out the window. "It's nothing big. Just a brush fire."  
  
Ami felt the air in the room raise itself to a fever pitch. An intense tightness was rolling out from Lina, and it seemed to confuse Ami as much as it confused Auntie Aqua. Ami almost wanted to cover her ears and hide her head, but there was nothing to be done but to watch. So she was shocked when the red-head's voice sounded collected, not at all as over-emotional as she had thought it would be. "It's nothing, is it?"  
  
The car stopped, and the two sitting in the front seat turned toward each other. Lina spoke again. "Nothing? That's a fire burning out there, and it's not a brush fire! I can tell fire when I see it!!" her voice was rising in volume, she was evidently pissed about something much more important than the fire.  
  
Ami tried to put in a word to still things a little before they got to hot to handle. "Miss Lina."  
  
"Shut up Ami!" Lina turned toward her Grandmother again. "Look, I'm getting out!"  
  
The door opened and slamed again quickly, almost before Ami had time to react. The next second, Zel was out of the car. "I'm dreadfully sorry ab--" she began, trying to smoothing things over for the old lady, but was rudely interrupted.  
  
"Keep Lina away from that!"  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"You heard me! Go!" And in the next moment, Ami was standing out side the car as it rolled away, then running as fast as she could toward the retreating backs of the only people for miles.  
  
He was running. He knew that immediately, also knew how long he could keep running in this heavy body: 17 minutes at this pace, before he would start to tire. The knowledge surprised him, but he did not focus on it. Lina was a ways ahead of him, streaking toward the smokey blackness that indicated a roaring blaze in front of them. Zel was following her, and his entire mind was set on that; following her, defending her.  
  
'Why do I follow her?' came a soft voice in the very back of his head. Most of him, the intense part, didn't notice. What was left of him answered, and this thought took precedence over everything else he was thinking. He said it aloud, his speech broken by gasps and the odd rhythm of his running feet.  
  
"Because she Lina and I am me. I will follow her as long as I need to. And I will shield her as long as I follow her. This is the way it is; this is the way it should be; this is the way it is forever."  
  
Zel liked the sound of it. It was, he mused, rather poetic.  
  
Ahead of him, Lina had cast a flight spell, and he felt his body rise as well. Now his concentration was split; half keeping tabs of Lina, part maintaining the spell, a spell for which he had little talent, and the third flying free. Immediately, that unoccupied section realized he didn't know where Amelia was. Unable to look back to check, he would loose the spell and fall (which he was sure would hurt) he shouted her name down to the earth, hoping she would hear.  
  
A rushing figure appeared behind him; Ami, her hair forced back by the wind. He glanced back at her, and was struck with, like this, how much she looked like Amelia, the Amelia he remembered. It was impossible to forget that she was Ami, of course, her hair was still too long, and she moved with more grace, and the spell was better maintained, but still, she looked just like-  
  
He didn't need to think about this now, he needed to keep going. Lina was almost there.  
  
She fell into a dive, no finesse, he noted, but it served the purpose. He, of course, followed, his descent much more controlled than hers had been. The rushing wind in his ears was like music, as the ground lept toward at him. He pulled up too soon, and his spell dissolved; he fell the remaining three feet to earth.  
  
He landed hard, and immediately sat up to asses the situation. A tall man was standing about two yards in front of him, his blazing red hair waving in the wind, his features barely visible through the smoke. Lina was ahead of him, slightly, and despite her rough dive she was fine, and standing. Zel breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Ami landed behind him. He turned, and she also seemed unhurt. 'You are all unhurt' said a cynical voice in the back of his head 'at the moment.'  
  
"Lina!" Ami's voice sounded from behind him. The girl ahead of them turned, her short red hair standing up about her head, and she motioned them forward.  
  
They came, Zel took position at Lina's shoulder, Ami behind them both. The man became focused as they moved up, and he could now see handsome features, scarlet eyebrows, and eyes that burned into their figures.  
  
"Ah" the man said, his voice deep and amused and frightening, "how quaint. The troops move into position for the battle." He turned, and looked exclusively at Lina. "Do you know me?"  
  
Zel could not see her face, but he could hear her anger. "Gaav" she spat the name, like a curse.  
  
"I am flattered."  
  
"Who?" That was Ami, sounding confused and scared. Lina turned toward them, and she suddenly seemed lit up from within; the goddess of war before a battle.  
  
"Gaav the Demon Dragon King."  
  
A.N. ACK!!! Major Filler Chapter!!!!!!! Sorry about the supreme boredom of this thing, but I needed to set up the Gaav fight and the chapters after it. I was actually going to continue and have this be a really long chapter but I thought it was starting to drag out too much. I'd have to do this character switch and I don't really want to view the Big Fight of Gaav (BFG) from her point of view this early on. Though, now that I think about it, I could have done that, although it would have made a) too much Amelia, not that I don't like her, and b) the whole Zelgadis section kinda pointless. So next time I promise I will start off w/ Ami and move into Zel and Lina and then maybe we'll revisit Val!!!! (forgotten character). Maybe we could do some recon w/ Sabrina, too. Fillia will have to come into it as well!! Gack!!! Okay. Big long chapter next time!!! (Is this happy news????)  
  
On another note, how did everyone like the Gaav section?? Give you some insight onto the life of a Ressurected Monster?? It's important that they can't use such big magic right now, so hang onto the point. Or, at least, I think it will be important. There some things that I have ditched in this fic, but yeah. Wow, these notes are long. Maybe I should start wrapping it up.  
  
Really fast: the interaction between Mel/Lina and Grandma Aqua/ Auntie Aqua is important for a chapter down the line. I think it will come after the next one. And then we're done w/ part two!!!!!!!! (is this a happy thing????)  
  
Oh, and really fast for those that want to know: There is rhyme and reason to the way that I switch names. It may seem confusing to you, but it makes perfect sense to me. Or at least semi-perfect sense. Whatever. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.  
  
REVIEWS, PLEASE!!!! GIVE ME REVIEW!!!! I WANT THEM SOOOOOOOO BAD!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!  
  
Love all you guys!!!!  
  
Divine Firefly 


	15. Part II Chapter 7

Slayers Resurrection  
  
Part II  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
"Gaav the Demon Dragon King"  
  
The words left a gaping vacuum in the air, one that was filled by nothing but the echos that shook through Amelia's own head. She could remember Gaav. She could see him, his long red hair whipping around him, his huge figure dominating her horizon. She could remember. . pain. It's ghost whipped through her, her breath hitched in her throat, her stomach twisted and turned and bile rose in her throat. He had almost killed her. This man, standing right there, so tangible, so forgotten, had almost ended her life in a lifetime long ago. After that moment, everything had become a gift.  
  
She could smell the smoke. It was the smoke of this lifetime, the smoke in a world where she wasn't a clutzy princess, but a girl, a girl who had found her purpose in the church, a girl who was cowering before the man in front of her. She didn't have the hope that her father would come save her. She didn't have justice. She didn't have the belief that had ruled her previous existence.  
  
But she had God.  
  
The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the God who burnt the bush, the God who found the promise land, the God of her ancestors and the founders of this country. A God who loved her and who would protect her. A God who was waiting for her to join his eternal kingdom in the sky, a God who she knew. He was as intangible as the memories that flooded her head, but even as she thought them they rang with shock and disbelief and the fact that she had never heard the name Amelia Tseyruun until three weeks ago. God she had known all her life. It was he she could trust.  
  
It was the trust to give her the certainty to do what she next did.  
  
'I know I'm crazy' she thought as she leaped into the air to land shakily on a fallen tree limb. 'I know that this is insane. I know I've never done this before' She raised her hands in front of her, slightly apart so there would be room for magic. 'But I know that I can.'  
  
"Almechia Lance!!" The words tore out of her throat and broke the shocked stupor that had descended on the people around her. Mel, who had been in her way jumped aside, fell to the ground and rolled four times before coming to a stop. Zel stood behind her and she could feel him summoning his own spell, could feel the currents twisting in the air as he prepared a secondary strike. Gaav looked at the beam of white light speeding toward him, and for one moment raised his eyes to meet her own. Ami felt the contact move through her, and she felt the fear rise in her again. Then he pulled away and sprung into the air, hanging suspended long enough for the spell to crash behind him.  
  
She had missed.  
  
But even as disappointment flooded her, Zel released the tide of air he had been holding, like most of his spells, she remembered, he did it silently, and Mel screamed "Fire Ball!" and flung a circular inferno at the opponent.  
  
Gaav cast a shield spell Ami had never seen before to handle the wind, pushing away into infinity. She stared at the glowing red ball hurling itself toward him, and dared to let herself hope. The monster, however, noticed, and sidestepped quickly across the air. He wasn't quite fast enough, and the spell singed the lower half of his ponytail away. He picked it up and stared at the charred ends for a moment before falling gracefully to Earth.  
  
"Very good" he said, his tone full and rich as she remembered it, retaining the mocking edge that had so stung her last time. "I see you still have all of your capabilities. I am pleased." His speech was broken then as he heaved a gasp of air.  
  
Ami blinked. Was that what she thought it was?  
  
Gaav breathed again, just as audibly.  
  
It was. Ami's mind struggled with the shock of it. It was heavy, and caught in his chest. She could hear it, hovering there. He sounded like she did after she had run a 100 yard sprint, like all the air had been knocked out of him.  
  
She had never heard a monster breath.  
  
It was obviously summer. Green glowed upon the trees, lilting in the wind and trembling in it as it played with them. Fillia let herself enjoy the view for a moment, relishing the soft breeze, the gentle awarnesses that touched her senses, the smells, the feel of hair against her cheek, the taste of fresh air. Then she turned to the dirty mazoku behind her.  
  
"You. I want you to make sure you don't touch me during the flight. I don't know if I could handle-just don't touch me."  
  
He glanced at her under heavy lids, his lips twisting in an odd expression, one she couldn't quite read. It look smug, though, and it rankled her. "What are you smiling at?"  
  
"Now that, lady dragon, is a secret."  
  
She glared for a second longer, just to establish complete control, as it should be, and turned her concentration to the merge. She felt her body, strangely young, felt her mind seep through every pore in her skin, her fingertips and toes, her chest and deep into every atom of herself. A moment later, the familiar feeling of change came to her, as her second self descended to earth, shifting her body to fit its parameters. Wings burst from her back, and she gave a small gasp of pain, feeling the skin around them bond even as it turned scaly and rough. Her legs became long, her neck shot up from the ground. Delighting in the power that came from her metamorphasis, the craned her neck and looked down at the small speck that was the moster.  
  
She spoke, as dragons do, into his mind. 'Stop gawking there, little one, and jump up here before I squash you.'  
  
The tiny, purple form below her shook itself, and then she felt, with distaste bordering on nausea the wave of magic emitting from it as Xelloss cast a flight spell. In seconds, he was seated on her back, and she was immediately grateful for the pant legs. Her warning had been justified, she couldn't handle his skin. This proximity was causing her distress as it was, but then darkness and light were not meant to coexist.  
  
She managed to pull her ego up once more as her wings beat the air beneath them, and she rose into the air, thinking that this was a journey that he, that no one, could do without her. And then they flew, away from the city and away from the forgotten life she had lived as Fiona Drygoon.  
  
Why am I here? The question he had been asking himself for the past three weeks came back again, echoing through Val's consciousness, forcing him to sit suddenly upright. It startled the pigeons in front of him into flight, and he watched their irregular patterns through the air with a lazy satisfaction. He realized, with disgust, a moment later that it was apathy.  
  
The wind spun about suddenly, hitting him full in the face. He shivered and hugged his coat up around his shoulders. What am I doing here? The question was there again. But it was always there when he was here.  
  
He sighed, and slumped a little lower. Here. His father's house. His dead father's house. Living with his aunt, who barely had enough money to support herself, but insisted that he come down once a year and pay proper respect to those that had 'gone on'. She didn't even like him, or if she did, it was in a twisted 'I see my brother who I loved in you' way.  
  
Whatever it was, it was not a way that he wanted to be loved in, anyways.  
  
His grand mother, who he lived with, thought it was a wonderful idea, though, and since she couldn't come herself, she sent him, with a big bouquet of roses and a tin of homemade cookies. And then he'd get off the plane and see his aunt and hug her and pretend that he wanted to be here for a moment, before he was free to go to out on his own, when a listless manner would descend on him and he would wander about the small town kicking empty soda cans and ignoring everyone and everything.  
  
It was like he disappeared into thin air.  
  
He wondered, apathetically of course, what was going on back home. He thought of his soccer team, thought of Sabrina, thought of that blonde, Fiona, whoever she was, and that new kid he'd seen around, with the purple hair. He thought of his grandmother and her dying body, he thought of the way her eyes turned blank every so often, how she worried him. He thought of his minister and the wacko girl at his church. He thought of how everyone was having a better time than him right now, because all of them hadn't been shipped to their aunts to visit gravestones and sit in parks.  
  
He was drawn, rather abruptly, out of his reverie by a white and black checked ball hitting him on the side of the foot. He looked up, and saw a tiny kid looking up at him with scared eyes. Unwilling to say anything, Val stared back, wondering dully if he looked long enough the kid would just walk away.  
  
He didn't.  
  
Finally, tired of this dumb game, Val spoke. "This your ball?"  
  
"Yes." The reply was quick. The poor scared kid had been waiting for him to speak.  
  
For the first time in a while, he was interested in it. "Do you play much?"  
  
"A little. I'm not very good though."  
  
Val thought of Sabrina, and how soft her eyes turned when she saw little kids. He smiled fondly. "I'm sure you're alright. Want to play with me?"  
  
The kid studied him for a while, long enough for Val to think, oh, this is rich, I'm being rejected by a kid. A pause later though, the little thing had turned his head to the side and nodded it vigorously.  
  
Val stood up. It was cold, he realized suddenly, and he had been sitting for a long time. He could barely feel his legs. The kid had been playing all morning, though, and slamed the ball toward him. On instinct, Val fell forward in a dive, catching the ball. The kid let out a frustrated sound.  
  
"You can't do that! Only feet in soccer!"  
  
He was a second away from shouting at the kid, telling him that he played goalie, very well too, and he knew more about soccer than anyone else he knew. But then, it wasn't worth the effort. Not anymore. So he just nodded, and kicked a pass.  
  
The checked sphere rolled neatly toward the little right foot of his opponent, who started to dribble off away from him. In moments his tired, cold legs were running, sprinting toward the objective, the ball rolling away from him.  
  
He didn't see the tree till it was right in front of his face.  
  
They'd been fighting for what felt like hours. Lina had lost count of the fireballs she'd shot off toward the redheaded man, but she was sure it was way up there, in the thousands maybe. No time to think about that, though. She leaped into the air as a burst of what felt like molten rock was hurled just beneath her. Someone's voice was summoning another spell, she couldn't tell anymore if it was Zel or Amelia. She was so tired.  
  
Lina landed roughly, a sudden, sharp pain shot up through her feet and into her shins and she moaned before she could even stand up. When she did struggle to her feet, another shot was being taken at her, this time an orb of ice. For an impossibly long second, she debated whether or not she should dodge, it seemed like so much effort. Even as the thought crossed her mind, she was throwing herself to the side, trying desperately to think of a counter spell, calling up a levitation, rising thirty feet into the air.  
  
Now she could see. Now she had time, maybe a minute, to think.  
  
Amelia was standing on a pile of rubble, gasping for breath. It had been she that had called the new spell, probably an almechia lance, which Gaav had obviously evaded. Zel was standing also, but now he crouched, even as the demon king launched himself up to follow Lina heavenward.  
  
Her time was up.  
  
And now, the presence that had been waiting for the right moment took control. Her thoughts sped up. Her actions sped up. Everything about started going faster and faster. The mind that was Mel had been shut away into a private little compartment, and someone far more brilliant, far more capable, had taken over her mind.  
  
It was shocking.  
  
But she didn't have time to dwell on the shock as she suddenly went into a steep dissension, pulling her hands toward her chest and shouting to the rushing air, and ever-climbing figure of Gaav, now above her, "Fire Arrow!"  
  
The burst of flame flew upward, appearing faster because of her fall, but now she wasn't falling anymore, she had landed. She looked up, and saw Gaav move neatly out of the way, then hover in place. A smile graced her lips.  
  
He hadn't seen it.  
  
Zel's spell of moments before sped upward, a brilliant beam of white light, slamming into the form and obscuring all else in the produced flash. Her smile turned relieved. It was finally over. They'd beaten him.  
  
She moved, breathed, for the first time in what felt like a long time. She turned toward Zel. "Nice one!"  
  
"Thanks!" He looked calmed, too, and she could see the white undertone to his cheeks receding, gradually being replaced by a victorious flush. She glanced toward Amelia, who was standing up, shakily, an unbelieving smile on her lips.  
  
It was over.  
  
They'd won. It was impossible, but it had happened. Somehow, she had managed to do what she had never been able to do before. The impossible assailant, Gaav, had weakened, and was now defeated. She smiled and turned toward her friends, returning Amelias hug.  
  
Over over over over. The word was sweet, even in her mind.  
  
"We did it, Lina, we won!"  
  
That was Amelia, cheering. Hearing those words canceled whatever presence had been controlling her. She suddenly felt much smaller. And in the smallness, she began to doubt. Her thoughts of moments ago mocked her in her mind-what she had never been able to do before. If not before, then why now? What had made this special? It didn't seem right.  
  
Zel walked over to them, smiling. She looked at him, and realized she had never seen him look so relieved. "Mel!" he shouted, "that was amazing! Did you see that? Did you see it?"  
  
Yes, Miss Mel, did you see it?  
  
She stiffened and spun around. "Who's there?"  
  
"What? Mel, what are you talking about?" Amelia looked at her, puzzled, still clutching Lina's arm.  
  
"Nothing." She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, then grinned shakily. "Nothing. Just forget it. Let's get to my Grandma's house, I wanna get out of this goddam dessert."  
  
A.N.-HA!! I'm back!! You probably thought I was gone but no! I came back and finished this chapter and I'm gonna try to finish this story. I think. If I GET REVIEWS. Okay? I'm saying that right now. If you review I'll finish. If not, I won't. If you want me to finish, review. If not, don't. It doesn't matter to me because I've already worked out what I want to happen in the end and I've reached emotional satisfaction about it. So review. Even to tell me it sucks. JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. Okay? Okay. Good great and marvelous.  
  
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW  
  
Okay. Now I'm done.  
  
Reivew.  
  
Almost.  
  
Done now.  
  
D.F 


End file.
